Harry Potter and the End of the Dark Lord
by Lord Perth
Summary: Now with prologue.....Once written under a different screen name.....Harry gets a shock two days into summer vacation after recieving a letter from Gringotts
1. Prologue

**Harry Potter and The End of the Dark Lord **

**Prologue**

(996 A.D.)

The soft patter of the rain drops were and easy distraction in the silence that had stretched out to an almost uncomfortable amount of time. The four founders of what would be called _Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_ upon its completion sat in silence, waiting for their guest to begin the meeting.

Outside of the magically enhanced tent, were the grounds of the future Hogwarts castle. One could argue the grounds of the current Hogwarts castle, unfinished as it may be. The foundation and lower two levels of the castle were almost complete. They estimated perhaps another nine months to a year to completely finish the castle itself. It would take an additional three years of pouring their combined magic into the building itself, that would make it the sentient being the students will come to admire and gape at.

Tonight, October 31 of the year nine hundred and ninety-six, was rather dreary. The past week had seen the skies shrouded with hideously dark rain clouds. They were ever lucky to receive a brief respite from the rain two days prior. Taking advantage of the slight change in weather, the four founders set outside to take a break from the tedious task of casting the same spells over and over again, to build the castle, essentially, brick by brick.

During this brief outing, Salazar's exquisite hearing almost ended the life of their would-be guest. Even at this time, Salazar had been extremely, jumpy, mayhap even the word paranoid could be used, and unexpected interruptions were not something he took lightly.

Godric's quick reflexes stayed the hand of his life long friend before he could let loose a curse, which may or may not be lethal but would surely end this good fellow's story before it had been told. He had but a simple message at the time. He was there to request a meeting between the four and himself on Halloween night. "And it must be on All Hallow's Eve." He had said. "If you will not meet me then, there will be no reason for us to meet.

Cordai was his name, pronounced core-die. Cordai stirred in his seat and waved his hand casually in front of himself. The simple gesture startled, actually startled, the four founders, as before their eyes a table grew from the ground and appeared to be made of the roots from the trees not far beyond the tent.

The aged man, Cordai, smirked for a second before addressing his audience. "Is something the matter?" He asked his voice not hiding his amusement in the least. He knew very well that these four were considered the most powerful witches and wizards to walk the face of the earth as of yet. Yet here he was, someone new to, well, let's just say new to here, using magic with a casual grace that didn't seem feasible.

If credit were to be given, it definitely went to the quartet opposite of the newly 'grown' table. Mild looks of shock were fleeting at best and had the old man not known what to expect when he performed his little trick, he would have thought he imagined the flickers he saw in their eyes.

Salazar raised an eyebrow slightly and sent a look at his friends that clearly said he was slightly impressed.

Cordai continued on, ignoring his own unanswered question. "I shall cut the theatrics short this evening. As I am sure you're aware, what I just did should have been impossible. Casting magic with such ease, no incantation, and manipulating the elements in the soil to do by bidding, has never been done before. Let me ask you a simple question. The question is directed at each of you individually, and I would appreciate honest answers in a prompt manner."

Salazar's raised eyebrow was now accompanied by a sneer that his friends would one day associate with the Dark Lord Slytherin. "Who are you to command us so? You come to us on our ground, require us to meet you on a certain date, and give us no information about yourself. We have no reason to trust you or do anything you ask of us; much less anything you would _demand_ of us.

"My friends may be willing to sit here and allow you to disrespect us as you were, but I am not. Impressive magic you possess, this I admit, but I will not be disrespected by the likes of you. Tell us what you have come to say and be gone. I warn you not to try my patience old man. I do not suffer fools, even powerful ones."

Godric rose from his seat in the tent as Salazar retook his seat regally. He wasn't the least surprised to see the Sai across from them taking Salazar's tirade in stride. Sighing slightly to himself, and wishing his brother would keep his temper, he cleared his throat and addressed the Sai across the table.

"Pardon my brother, Sai. He has little tolerance for theatrics and games anymore and sometimes his mouth gets ahead of him." He ignored the dark look Salazar sent his way. "While his mouth may have gotten away from him, he does have a few valid points. We have been most accommodating to you so far, have we not?"

"You have," Cordai agreed, still taking the whole conversation in stride, much the way the two females across from him had done so far.

"Then perhaps you would be willing to accommodate us for the time being. If we are to meet as civilized men and women perhaps we best start with introducing ourselves. I doubt very much that you need us to introduce ourselves since you sought us out and are the….well, let's just say, instigator of this situation."

"Very well," Cordai sighed, rising from his chair. "You are Godric Gryffindor of England, your dark haired _friend_ is Salazar Slytherin of Scotland, more specifically of Loch Leven as he so humbly stated. The two beautiful women next to you are the Baroness Rowena Ravenclaw and her good friend Helga Hufflepuff, also both of England.

"As for whom I am, my name is Cordai as I have said before. I have no nationality per se, or even belong to this earth, if truth be told. I am nothing but a messenger."

"A messenger capable of impressive magics, I might say," Gryffindor mumbled slightly.

"Aye, Sai Gryffindor. Impressive magics and in the possession of someone as_ lowly_ as a mere messenger." He added the last to make a point, and it was understood by all, especially Slytherin.

If all was as Cordai said, and he was nothing but a mere messenger, then how powerful would the entity be for which he carried the message. Gryffindor believed Cordai when he claimed to be a messenger but subconsciously he knew that he was _more _than a _mere messenger. _This was just one of his duties but certainly not the only thing he does, wherever he comes from.

"Now, I'm afraid that these trivialities have taken a great deal of the amount of time I have available to me. While that really doesn't affect me in the least it shall make your job a little harder as I will not be around to answer any questions you have."

Cordai retook his seat and with a nod at the table separating them, a book materialized in front of his four….apprentices? No, not exactly the right term but it would suffice.

"I shall leave this book with you. You must all read and understand it very well. In time, the rest shall become clear. I ask you to listen to your instincts and listen very well. I will now ask the question I began to ask again.

"Have you noticed the ease of which you four command magic compared to others you have known? Surely you must have. You four are considered to be some of the most talented magical folk to walk the earth.

"Not to 'toot your horn' or anything, but this is essentially correct. You are the first of your kind. The book will go into the details, but you are have a control over magic that none before you have had and only a handful after your time shall have the same control. There are nine of you to be exact. Nine... well lets call you gifted for the time being as assigning a name to adequately describe you would take time I don't have.

"I only ask this of you, and I have no doubt that you can do it, I ask of you to make sure this tome will remain safe until the time when the fifth of you shall walk the earth. Make it safe for _Wendelin, _she is alive but has yet to notice the distinct difference between her powers and that of everyone else. She will….make herself known," Cordai stated with a grin. "When she discovers her talents. It will not be hard to find her I trust."

As if it were rehearsed, and very well may have been, the final word 'creation' caused Cordai to disappear from the tent. No cracking sound of apparition, no distinct magical spikes, he was just gone, leaving behind the tree root table and two inch thick tome resting on it.

After exchanging disbelieving, or in Salazar's case, disgruntled looks, the four magicians moved to the table, two per side, and opened the book. The title on the inside cover of the tome was _Sortiari. _Though it was unknown by them at the time, the simple act of opening the book created the world's most feared Dark Lord and began the process of creating his downfall.

**-**

On behalf of the three remaining founders of _Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_, Salazar Slytherin having been slain by his one time brother Godric Gryffindor, Godric sits patiently awaiting for the object of his trip to make herself known. Surprisingly, Godric, one of the most powerful wizards to have walked the earth, arguably the most powerful since Merlin himself, waits for his subject amongst a crowd of muggles.

His quarry is not a muggle, that much should be self evident; however his quarry has a bad habit of turning up in rather large muggle inhabited areas. It is here, in Edinburgh, that _Wendelin the Weird_ as she has become known will make her final appearance to the muggle world, as a human torch.

Almost amusedly Godric awaits her last burning at the stake. Number forty-seven if his memory serves, and even at the age of eighty his memory is preserved by his magic, a trait which becomes obvious amongst the other guardians.

Godric's mind flashes back to the final battle with Salazar. It had only been a short two years after the visit from the enigmatic Cordai, that Salazar turned his back against his friends, his family, and became the Dark Lord Slytherin. Salazar lay slumped over with Godric's sword sticking clean through his abdomen and out his back, and smiled at Gryffindor. It was that smile, that graced his brother's dying face, that nearly robbed Gryffindor of any sanity that remained in his head. It was the smile of a madman, someone driven to commit horrid acts of cruelty against muggles and 'muggle loving wizards.'

Salazar had spent the majority of the six months following Cordai's visit scouring page after page of the ancient tome _Sortiari_. He became….obsessed was the best word his friends could come to describing his behavior. He continued to build his share of the school, and unbeknownst to the rest of them, his own private chamber. Other than his rather concerning obsession with the book, nothing seemed out of place. The others couldn't quite guess what had _him_ so obsessed with the book. They had all read it and it was intriguing yes, but more or less, instructional. It made vague references to future events but nothing they could decipher.

Upon the completion of the castle, several months ahead of their anticipated opening, due in no short part to the _Sortiari_, Salazar left without a word, into the night.

Smiling slightly to himself as he hears the mob approaching the town center, he stands inconspicuously amongst the muggles and waits for the show to end so he may get down to business.

**A/N: This introduction will not come seem relevant to the story until about chapter 17 or so, that is when the story unfolds itself.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The News**

"Boy! Get your ruddy ass downstairs! Now!"

Harry Potter was sitting on his bed trying to clear his mind when he heard his Uncle Vernon's roar from downstairs in the kitchen. He hadn't even really gotten ready yet for the day, he was still in his shorts that he slept in and nothing else. He figured he may as well go downstairs and see what all of the yelling was about.

His uncle had been yelling nonstop, or so it seemed, ever since he came home this year. 'Good times at Privet Drive,' he snorted at the absurd thought that floated into his mind.

"Might as well go and see what I am being blamed for this time," Harry muttered to himself as he was leaving his room. 'They probably think that I am to blame for world hunger or something like that, or maybe just Dudley's hunger.'

He had spent the last few days of term sorting out his feelings about Sirius. He no longer felt completely responsible for his death. He figured that the blame was spread out between Dumbledore, Bellatrix, Voldemort, Snape, and himself. After his talk with Luna before the end of the year feast he has come to terms with his death. While it still hurt a little, he had gotten past the worst part of it.

As he was walking into the kitchen he heard his uncle complaining about 'ruddy birds flying around in the middle of the day when all of the normal people can see them.' but that changed as he rounded on him the second he set foot inside the kitchen.

"The only thing saving you from a beating right now is the fact that this letter that the stupid bird dropped off mentioned something about you inheriting a lot of money. What nonsense are they talking about? Who would give you anything? I WANT ANSWERS BOY!" Harry almost laughed at the fact that his uncle could change his face into almost as many colors as Tonks could.

Harry was brought out of his musings as his uncle hit him on the side of his head and knocked him to the ground. As he picked himself up he heard his uncle berating him yet again. "That'll teach you to smirk at me boy. You people are too stupid for your own good. But then again if they are all as stupid as you then maybe you freaks will all die out soon and leave the world to the 'normal' people."

Finally regaining some sense about him Harry 'politely' asks his uncle to see the letter that he is referring to. Upon seeing the official seal on the top of the letter he realizes that the letter is from Gringotts Wizarding Bank. It is addressed to 'The legal guardians of Harry James Potter.' He hides a snort at the fact that the Dursley's actually being officially noted as his guardians when all they ever did was beat him. Harry quickly scanned the document and realizes that it was in regards to some legal difficulties with Sirius' will. He automatically assumed that it was because he was an escaped convict. _Oh how wrong he was…_

The letter stated that during the review of the will prior to its official reading the goblins noticed that the will could not be carried out as written due to some long standing laws.

To: The legal guardians of Harry James Potter

_Mr. Potter, _

_It has been noted by our staff that one, Sirius Orion Black, has recently passed. We at Gringotts give our condolences on your loss. While reviewing Mr. Black's will prior to the official reading, to be conducted on August 1, 1996, it was established that he named you his sole heir. Herein lies the problem. This violates one of the oldest laws set forth by the Ministry of Magic. Normally we do not care about the matters of humans; however this is a special case. Nothing more can be discussed in writing. I am asking that you meet with me tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. to discuss this matter further. This letter will act as a portkey precisely at 12:25 p.m. Simply show this letter to any of the tellers and they will escort you to my office._

_Smithook,  
Head Goblin,  
Gringotts London_

Harry didn't know what to make of the letter. He had never heard of the head goblin getting involved in something as routine as a will reading. He looked up to see that his uncle was still staring at him wanting to know about the money, while Aunt Petunia and Dudley sat at the table grinning viciously at the thought of taking away any money he might get. He decided to respond with as much of the truth as he dared. "I can't tell you about any of the money involved in this because I just found out about it myself. My godfather died at the end of the school year and I guess that he left everything to me. As you can see in the letter there has been a problem with this and they want to discuss it with me. Other than that I can tell you nothing."

"What is the portlock that they talked about?"

"Portkey. It's a form of Ma….transportation that my kind use."

"You be sure that when you talk to them tomorrow that any money you get is put under our names, you hear me. As your legal guardians it is to stay under our name until you are eighteen."

"Yes, Uncle Vernon." Harry replied in, his carefully practiced, monotone while mentally thinking that that is the last thing he would ever do.

"Right then. Get up to your room and don't leave until you are ready to go to that bank tomorrow. You'll get dinner through the flap."

Waking up at 10:00 the next morning Harry sighed realizing that, while he had no dreams and slept relatively well, he now had to sit for another two hours without leaving his room before he would get to Gringotts.

He decided he may as well get some of his school homework done while he waited. He went to his trunk and got out all of the materials he would need only to realize that he had no homework to do. Since they had not received their OWL results yet he had no idea what classes he would be enrolled in and therefore the teachers were unable to assign any holiday work.

With nothing better to do, he opened up his Defense Against the Dark Arts book from last year and started to read.

At 12:20 he stopped reading and made sure that he was ready to go. He made sure that he had his wand with him and the Gringotts note. At exactly 12:25 he felt the familiar jerk behind the navel that signified the portkey activation.

He arrived at the front entrance to Gringotts and made his way inside. He then proceeded to the nearest teller and handed the note to the goblin. After checking the note and glancing up at his scar to make sure it was him the goblin told him to follow him to the Head Goblin's office.

After what seemed like forever walking through many different corridors they arrived at a huge set of golden double doors. Harry couldn't help but laugh to himself that the doors were big enough to allow Grawp to walk through and the goblin wouldn't even reach Grawp's knee. The goblin told him to wait outside as he went in to announce Harry's arrival.

A few moments later the goblin returned and allowed Harry to enter the room. The room was about half the size of the great hall in Hogwarts. It was decorated mostly in gold and had the portraits of all of the previous head goblins lining the walls. The last thing Harry noticed was the goblin himself. He was the same size as the rest of the goblins but he had long silver-grey hair that fell about halfway down his back.

The goblin introduced himself as Smithook and asked Harry to have a seat. Once seated the goblin offered him some tea.

Merely nodding his head Harry accepted the tea. He couldn't help but be reminded of Dumbledore. Always observing the pleasantries and never in any rush to get to the point. After five minutes of drinking tea in silence Harry finally decided to open the conversation.

"Why exactly did you wish to speak with me?"

"Nothing like getting right to the point, eh Mr. Potter."

"Please, call me Harry and yes I have been thinking of nothing else since I received the letter so I am naturally curious as to the reasons that I was asked here."

"Very well then" Smithook sighed. "First I wish to elaborate as to the reason that you are meeting with the head goblin in the first place instead of one of the solicitors. You see, we do not trouble ourselves in the affairs of men very often. We try to keep our societies separate and only deal with each other on a business basis.

"I remember the first rise of the Dark Lord very well. I was just starting my term in office. The Dark Lord is a vile creature and he hurts the economy. During the first rise when his attacks where at their peak the economy was in shambles. The worth of the Galleon plummeted. Goblins were affected very badly by this. The rest of our dealing stayed the same but the decrease in sales and the decreased value of gold in Wizarding Britain meant that we were losing great deals of money.

"As I am sure you are aware, goblins thrive on how much money we have. Money means everything to us. That being said, the second rise of the Dark Lord has the potential to hurt us again. We do not wish to see this happen."

"That still does not explain the reasoning behind me being here or Sirius' will for that matter" Harry commented, not exactly planning on attending a history lesson today.

"Ah, but it does, at least partially. We owe you a great deal since you were the cause of the downfall of the Dark Lord and goblins always repay their debts.

"We have been watching and waiting for our chance to repay you. Now we begin the repayment process." Smithook decided to get straight to the point as he observed Harry losing interest in this meeting. "Even though your Ministry of Magic are fools that are incapable of identifying Death Eaters, and other supporters of the Dark Lord does not mean that we are. You see, we have monitored those suspected of funding the Dark Lord's first rise since the rumors of his return began.

"Lucius Malfoy has been taking substantial withdrawals from this bank on a consistent basis from the time of _His_ resurrection to the time of his own arrest. Now that Lucius is in Azkaban, Draco has taken to making these same withdrawals and we know through our own intelligence network that this money is taken directly to the Dark Lord and he stores it in vault on his own property. We do not wish to see the Black fortune added to this.

"The issue concerning the will of Mr. Black is this. You are listed as the sole heir to the Black fortune. You, however, cannot inherit the money because you are not a blood relative of the Black family. Mr. Black was probably unaware of this law when he passed everything to you as he was never interested in pureblood politics.

"Around the time that the Ministry of Magic was founded there were several laws that were passed that were dubbed 'The Purity Laws.'

"The only law that I need to explain to you now is the law pertaining to inheritance. Pureblooded families wanted to make sure that their money never passed on to muggles in the case that their line had ended so they crafted a law that ensured the money continued to be passed on to blood relatives."

"So, you are saying that even though Sirius stated in his will that I am his sole heir, everything will pass on to the next blood relative?" Harry was still confused as to what this had to do with him if he could not inherit anything.

"You see, the will was stated to be read within 1 week of Sirius' death. One of the goblins in the will department was approached by Narcissa Malfoy asking what date it was to be read and then demanded a copy of the will. The goblin gave her a copy of the will and when she found out that the money was being left to you instead of Draco she contested the will based on the purity laws.

"When she contested the will it was immediately brought to my attention. Not wanting the money to enter the hands of the Dark Lord I pushed the will reading as far back as legally possible. I used the initial one week period to study the laws and see what could be done about this. It turns out that there is a loophole to this law."

After waiting several moments for the goblin to continue Harry decided that he was going to have to ask to get any more information.

"And?"

"If you were to marry a daughter of the Black family you can bypass this law.

"This loophole exists because any of your children would still be Blacks by blood and in the event that you die before you have kids then your wife, who is a blood relative, would inherit the rest of your money."

"So, the only way I can inherit the Black fortune and keep it all from ending up in the hands of Voldemort is to marry someone of the Black family? Who could I even marry if I were to consider this?"

"The only daughters of the Black family that are alive are: Bellatrix LeStrange, Narcissa Malfoy, Andromeda Tonks, and Nymphadora Tonks. The only available candidate is Nymphadora Tonks as the others are still married."

"And there is no other way?"

"That is correct."

"At all?"

"That is correct."

"Period?"

"Yes."

"Absolutely sure?"

"Yes."

"Wow. Well I…um….Thank you for the information. I think it would be best if I left for now."

"That is understandable. Just tap the parchment with your wand and say your address and it will take you back there. Just keep in mind that you have until the 1st of August. If you wish to inherit the Black Estate then you must be married to Miss Tonks by then."

"Number 4 Privet Drive." Harry mumbled and found himself back in his bedroom. 'What the bloody hell was that all about? Get married by the 1st of August or everything that Sirius owned goes to ferret and snakeface? And on top of that get married to an older woman? Granted she is hot and can assume any body she wants but……As much as I loathe doing so I think that I need to talk to Dumbledore.'

After thinking the situation over for a good two hours he finally decided to send Dumbledore a letter.

_Professor Dumbledore, _

_I received a letter from Gringotts yesterday and met with the Head Goblin this morning. The information that I learned during this meeting was shocking to say the least. I need to meet with you and have a very serious discussion as soon as possible._

_Regards,  
Harry Potter_

He attached the letter to Hedwig and told her to take it to Headquarters as fast as possible. With Hedwig off to deliver the letter Harry fell asleep to troubled dreams.

Harry woke up out of breath and dripping with sweat. He had dreamed that he told Tonks everything that goblins told him. Everything seemed to go OK until Harry asked her if she wanted to marry him. At that point Tonks' hair changed to red and her eyes pitch black. She pulled out her wand and started throwing curse after curse after curse at him. At the point he had woken up she had just shattered both his legs and was moving closer and closer to him finally when he thought she was going to kill him he woke up.

He took a minute to catch his breath and noticed that Professor Dumbledore had responded to his letter the previous night. The professor was to meet with him at 10:00 this morning. Noting that he had an hour and half before his Headmaster would arrive he decided to get up, grab some breakfast, and take a shower.

Miraculously he avoided any contact with the Dursley's. He soon found out why. Tacked onto the refrigerator door was a note saying that they had gone to one of Dudley's boxing matches and would be gone all weekend. They told him not to touch any of their possessions and only eat the food in the fridge set aside for him. Looking into the fridge he saw the food they set aside for him. Two apples and a cheese sandwich.

Professor Dumbledore arrived right on time with a pop in the middle of the kitchen.

After the pleasantries were acknowledged Harry proceeded to inform Dumbledore of everything the goblins had told him the day before. Dumbledore of course knew of this law but never saw the ramifications that Sirius' death could have on the Order.

'Greatest wizard of the age indeed. For having a lot of power he sure is blind to a great many things' Harry mused.

Now understanding the full impact Sirius' death would take on the order, Dumbledore told Harry to pack enough clothes for the weekend. He informed him that they would be going to headquarters as a great many things needed to be discussed. While Harry was packing his things Dumbledore left a note for the Dursley's saying that Harry would be returning Monday afternoon.

When Harry arrived back downstairs Dumbledore took a pen from the Dursley's counter and made a portkey. Making sure that he had a hold of his things he reached for the pen and felt the familiar pull behind the navel before he landed in a heap on the kitchen floor of Grimmauld Place.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Order's Reaction**

Harry carefully extracted himself from the pile of people. He had just enough time to give both Hermione and Ginny a hug before Hermione launched into her interrogation.

"What are you doing here already? Did the muggles do something? Did you do something to the muggles? Are you on trial again? What –"

"Hermione STOP! No, I am not on trial again. No, the muggles aren't the reason I am here. And no, I did not do anything to the muggles, they are on a trip right now."

"Then what are you doing here?"

"I'll explain everything in a few minutes. Where's Ron?"

Hermione looked pleadingly at Ginny who just smirked back at her. Finally Hermione looked away blushing. Ginny decided to capitalize on Hermione's embarrassment and said, "This morning Ron happened to be talking in his sleep when Hermione and I went in to wake him up. Actually it was more like _moaning_ in his sleep. Moaning words that sounded a lot like 'Hermione don't stop' and other assorted phrases. Needless to say both of them were beyond embarrassed when I started laughing and woke him up and he saw who was in the bedroom to hear what he had said.

"He hasn't come out of his room yet. Maybe you can go talk to him. It has obviously mortified him; he hasn't even come out of the room for food."

Finally losing the battle himself, Harry ended up on the floor for the third time that morning. This time however was of his own doing as he couldn't stand up straight and laugh as hard as he felt the situation required at the same time.

"He..Her..Hermione?"

"I don't see what you're laughing about. It's not that funny."

"Oh, but it is. He has liked you for so long. I seriously doubt that this is the way he wanted you to find out about it, but regardless of how it happened at least he finally admitted it." Having regained control of his laughter and the use of his feet Harry suddenly looked very serious. "What did you say to him after he woke up?"

"Nothing and I think that that is the main problem right now. I just kind of froze. He woke up and saw us there and my mouth was hanging open and I couldn't manage to say anything. He looked at me for about ten seconds before covering his head with his blanket and then he told us that he wanted to be alone."

"Do you like him?"

"I think that it is obvious that I have some feelings for him. But if he doesnt start growing up I don't think I can wait around too much longer for him to mature. Not to mention how oblivious he is to any signs that I gave him last year."

"This is Ron we are talking about. If it is not about food or quidditch it needs to be spelled out in front of him."

"You think that he thinks I don't like him like that?"

"Ginny please help clear this is up with her. I need to go talk to Ron."

"Ok, Harry. But you may want to make sure to sit on your own bed considering the moaning he was doing when we walked in you don't know what may be all over his covers."

Harry just walked out of the room shaking his head. Ginny definitely was not the same little girl that he met on Platform Nine and Three Quarters. She had obviously spent more time with the twins that was for her own good.

"Ron? Ron open up."

"Go away Harry."

"Not until you let me in."

"Why are you here anyways? You're supposed to be at the muggles."

"And you never miss a meal. Now that we have stated the obvious open the door."

"Fine." Ron huffed and yanked the door open. "Happy now?"

"Nice to see you too Ron."

"Sorry. This doesn't seem like my day for human contact."

"So I heard." Ron just glared at him.

"Considering the last two days that I have had I am going to get straight to the point. Do you like Hermione?"

"Of course I like her you dolt."

"Good. She likes you too. Frankly I am glad that this happened."

"Why? You enjoy seeing your best mate miserable?"

"No. I am tired of you two dancing around each other pretending to hate one another. Ever since Krum asked her to the Yule Ball the two of you have been arguing non-stop. I swear this bizarre mating ritual the two of you developed is getting rather annoying.

"Do you realize that the twins set up a pool in Gryffindor tower to see which one of you would cave in first? If I remember correctly the pot is up to 400 galleons now. I have twenty galleons riding on the fact that the two of you get into an argument and then you just start snogging each other senseless. Even though it looks like I am going to lose that money it's not a significant loss if it means that the two of you just admit to each other how you feel and get it out in the open. The fights aren't fooling anybody except yourselves. Every one in Gryffindor tower knows that you two like each other. Why is it you think that nobody ever asks Hermione on a date? Hell even McGonagall knows it. I think the twins said she put ten galleons in on the pool shortly after it started."

"Are you serious? McGonagall actually put money on this?"

"You truly are hopeless, you know that. After everything I said the only thing that you care to comment on is McGonagall's betting.

"I have to go meet with Dumbledore. Think about what I said. Ginny is basically giving the same talk to Hermione as we speak. I also think that you should try and act a little bit more 'proper' around her. She didn't say it out right but it looks as if she is losing patience waiting for you too act more mature, as she put it. She may very well move on to someone else if you don't hurry." With that Harry got off of his bed and left to go to the kitchen.

Down in the kitchen the rest of the Order of the Phoenix had just arrived. Harry walked in and Dumbledore motioned Harry to sit in a seat right next to Tonks.

"Crazy old codger. Must get some sort of sick pleasure out of embarrassing his students. Second time today and I doubt even that will be enough to satisfy his sick sense of humor." Harry muttered to himself as he took the seat next to Tonks. Tonks herself was confused as to what he was going on about but was also trying not to laugh at whatever situation the teen thought was embarrassing. _If only she knew._

It didn't take Mrs. Weasley long to figure out that kids were still in the kitchen for an Order meeting. She immediately voiced it to the rest of the room.

"Come on now kids you know that you cannot be here during these meetings. You would do well to remember to leave the war to the grown ups."

Hermione, and Ginny immediately started protesting. However most people were focusing on the confrontation at the head of the table.

"You never told them?" Came Harry's cold voice directed to the Headmaster.

"It was not my place to tell them. It was in regards to you and therefore it is up to you who should know." Dumbledore replied calmly.

"You're telling me that nobody dared to ask why they were risking their lives to protect a prophecy when they didn't even know the contents of it."

"They never asked because they understood that it was a prophecy concerning Voldemort and his potential downfall and that is it."

Harry calmed himself as he realized that while the Order was stupid to guard something without asking questions, he was actually glad that Dumbledore had not disclosed his fate to the entire Order. Especially Snape.

"Alright then. Let's just get this meeting underway so we can figure out how to manipulate my life this time."

A look of regret passed over Dumbledore's face but it was gone as soon as it came. "Alright everyone settle down. The kids are here for this meeting because the contents of discussion tonight involves one of their own.

"Mr. Potter was contacted by Gringotts two days ago and was asked to meet with the Head Goblin in regards to Sirius' will." The next thirty minutes was spent explaining everything about the current situation. Harry noticed that Dumbledore had purposefully left out Tonks' name. He wanted to see her reaction when she pieced the puzzle together herself.

Ever consistent with being a know it all, Hermione was the first to speak up. "So the only way that we can keep headquarters, ensure that Harry inherits Sirius' stuff, and keep the Black Fortune away from Voldemort is for Harry to marry someone of the Black family line before August the 1st?"

"That sums it up nicely Ms. Granger. Now the major question for the evening is what do we do now?"

Chattering broke out from everyone around the room except from Ginny, Harry, and Tonks.

Harry sat there deep in thought about why Sirius didn't plan ahead for something like this. He had been thinking it over ever since his meeting with the goblins and couldn't understand how Sirius' solicitor never chose to inform him of this law. He finally voiced his question to Dumbledore.

"I honestly couldn't tell you, Harry. I will have to look into this."

Finally Tonks looked up at the Headmaster. "By marrying into the Black family you were talking about me. Weren't you?"

"Yes Nymphadora. You are the only daughter of the Black family that is not married. Please understand that neither you nor Harry is obligated to do anything."

"And just let Voldemort have access to all of the paintings and the information that they now hold about the Order?" She was so lost in thought that she didn't even bother to be angry at the Headmaster for the use of her given name.

Neither her nor Harry would make eye contact with each other. For that matter they pretty much seemed to be in their own worlds and not really paying attention to anybody else either. Finally Tonks got up from the table and said that she needed to be alone for awhile to think things through.

Dumbledore just nodded his assent and said, "Perhaps it would be best to adjourn this meeting for now and we will reconvene tomorrow at 12:00. Please think of any solutions to this situation that you can. Ms. Jones and Mr. Diggle I would like you to search for these laws and find any information that you can on them and report it back here tomorrow. This meeting is adjourned."

Harry and his friends slowly made their way up to Harry and Ron's room. Any earlier embarrassment and joking that existed that morning was nowhere to be found.

They went up to Ron's room and they all sat there for almost ten minutes before anyone dared to speak. Hermione decided to break the ice.

"What do you think about this situation Harry?"

"Well I have to start adjusting to the idea that I may be married at the end of the month. I mean there is not much else to do in this situation is there?"

"You mean you're actually considering this?" Then Hermione started in her lecturing a two year old voice. "Harry you do know that Wizarding marriages are nothing like muggle marriages don't you?

"There is no such thing as a divorce in the Wizarding world. The oaths you take when you get married are wizard and witches oaths. Once you complete the ceremony you will be bound to stay with that person forever. If you cheat on her or break any of the vows you will lose your magic immediately and start a slow wasting process that takes almost two months to complete before you die."

"Look, Hermione. It's not as if I planned on getting married before my sixteenth birthday. I didn't plan for a lot of things that happened in my life but that doesn't stop them from happening. I am not saying that I am going to get married but I am also not ruling that possibility out either. In the end I will do whatever I can to make sure that Voldemort cannot get ahead. But I will not force Tonks to do anything. In the end the decision is hers. I will support whatever decision she makes.

"After Sirius died Dumbledore sent me back to his office. He told me a lot of things that night. Things that changed my life forever. I hated him for a while. I spent the last week of school sorting through my memories of Sirius and school and everything that Dumbledore revealed that night. I grew up ten years that night and it changed me forever. I will not tell you what Dumbledore told me yet but I know that whatever I can do to deal a blow to Voldemort I will do without a moment's hesitation.

"I'm not sure how I truly feel about all of this. I mean I don't necessarily want to get married. Hell I have never had a girlfriend. Cho doesn't count. She just used me as a link to Cedric. I guess if it happens then I will adjust the best I can and live my life as long as I have left to enjoy it."

"Wow mate. Can't say that I envy being you in this situation. However just think of the perks to being married to a metamorphmagus. She can be anybody that you want mate."

"Damn it Ron. I'm not just going to use her as a sex toy or something. I'm serious about this situation. I may not have planned for it to happen but I will support Tonks in whatever decision she makes. If she so chooses that the idea is ludicrous and that we should just find another Order HQ that's fine with me. I may not want Voldemort to have any of this but I could care less if I got it either. This is more about the security of the Order. If she decides that we should get married to keep this stuff out of _His_ hands then I will do everything I can to make sure she doesn't regret that choice. I am not the kind of person to force his will upon somebody else.

"I realize that it is every woman's dream to be proposed to in a romantic situation and to marry the man she loves in a huge ceremony with all of her friends. I may not be able to be the man she loves but I will do everything I can to make sure she has the rest of it. Maybe someday she will grow to love me and for me to love her and maybe it wont ever happen but that doesn't mean I wont try."

"Geez mate. I was just trying to lighten the mood."

"Sorry, but I have thought of little else over the last twenty-four hours and I think I just needed to get that off my chest.

"Actually now that I think about it I am rather tired after all of the meetings I have had recently I think I will go to bed early. Tell your mom that I won't be down for dinner."

"Alright. G'night." With that Ron, Hermione, and Ginny left to go to dinner and let Harry sleep. Harry had a brief realization that Ginny had not spoken once since the Order meeting started. He figured that he could always talk to her in the morning. With that thought he went to sleep.

Waking up early the next morning Harry decided that he didn't want to get out of bed yet. Considering he went to bed extremely early last night he wasn't all that surprised that he was wide awake and it was only 3:00 a.m. He sat in bed and went over everything that happened the previous day.

All considering, the Order did not react nearly as badly as he would have expected. Nor did Tonks for that matter. He was a little nervous about Tonks. He knew in his mind that he would accept any decision that she made. That did not mean that he still wasn't nervous about it. Here he is not even sixteen years old yet and he may be getting married to a twenty-two year old Auror with less than a months notice.

Sure she was beautiful and everything but how would she react to having to marry someone six years younger than her. Hell, for all he knew, she could already be in a serious relationship with someone. He, however, doubted this since she left the table last night to be alone to think over the situation. If she was seeing somebody she would have flat out refused.

Figuring nothing else was going to get solved by staying in bed, he decided to get up and get dressed for the day. He gathered all of his clothes and headed off the only bathroom on the second floor of Grimmauld Place. He took his time getting ready since there was no line of people waiting to get into the bathroom or yelling at him for wasting the water on a freak like him. He enjoyed taking his time and finished getting ready. He was ready to go for the day by 4:15. He dropped off his dirty clothes back in his room and headed down to the kitchen to get something to drink.

As he was walking down the stairs he noticed the light on in the kitchen. Figuring that it was a good thing that somebody else was awake so that he could have a conversation with someone instead of sitting by himself until breakfast, Harry headed in the door and froze in his tracks. Sitting in a bath robe at the kitchen table was Tonks. She hadn't looked up yet and hoping that she hadn't seen him Harry tried to sneak back out of the kitchen. Just as he put his hand on the door she acknowledged his presence.

"Wotcher Harry, we need to talk."


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The Talks**

Tonks herself was a mess. She had not slept much the previous night. She had lain in bed thinking of every possible way this situation could play out. In the end, the only way that the Order would not be compromised was to go through with the marriage.

Tonks felt almost the same way as Harry did. She understood that he was as much a pawn in this situation as she was. He never asked for Sirius to die. He never asked for the inheritance and he surely never had anything to do with the passing of 'The Purity Laws.' She wanted to be angry when she first got to her room and started to think. How could she be expected to marry someone six years younger than her? Granted he was more grown up than most of the people his age, but still. Hell sometimes he acted more mature than she did.

She knew now that she would accept the marriage solution. It was the only way to keep the Order safe and to keep masses amount of finances out of Voldemort's hands. She also resolved to try and make the best out of the situation. She knew that Harry didn't love her. She knew she didn't love him. She knew that love wasn't a possibility right now. They barely knew each other. They had met a few times over the last year but had never really sat down and tried to get to know each other better. She resolved that if he was willing to marry her that she would try her best to make sure that she was a good wife.

Men didn't grow up having dreams of big fancy weddings and all of that, but even they wish to be able to fall in love and be able to marry the person they love. The final nail in the coffin for her came earlier that evening.

Shortly after she had departed for her room; she had worked herself into a rant. She had taken out her wand and was ready to go after Harry and hex until next week for causing this situation. However just as she approached Harry and Ron's room she heard Harry yelling at Ron. She decided to take a second to cool off she listened to what they were saying.

"_Damn it Ron. I'm not just going to use her as a sex toy or something. I'm serious about this situation. I may not have planned for it to happen but I will support Tonks in whatever decision she makes. If she so chooses that the idea is ludicrous and that we should just find another Order HQ that's fine with me. I may not want Voldemort to have any of this but I could care less if I got it either. This is more about the security of the Order. If she decides that we should get married to keep this stuff out of His hands then I will do everything I can to make sure she doesn't regret that choice. I am not the kind of person to force his will upon somebody else." _

"_I realize that it is every woman's dream to be proposed to in a romantic situation and marry the man she loves in a huge ceremony with all of her friends. I may not be able to be the man she loves but I will do everything I can to make sure she has the rest of it. Maybe someday she will grow to love me and for me to love her and maybe it wont ever happen but that doesn't mean I wont try."_

She ventured to guess what it was that Ron had said prior to this rant from Harry. She assumed it had something to do with how lucky he was to have a chance at shagging a metamorphmagus. Ron seemed to share the attitude most guys had when it came to her.

Tonks had never had a relationship last more than two weeks. It seems that around the two week mark the guy would decide that he had played it safe for long enough and could ask her to change her appearance to their 'ideal woman' without making her upset. As soon as any guy would ask her to change she would end the relationship. She wanted to be with a man that loved her for her not what she could change into.

No one with the exception of her parents has ever seen her in her natural state. She vowed, when she was young, to never show true form to anyone except her husband. She actually toned her looks down quite a bit to form what most people would call her 'standard' form. She also purposely acted like a klutz all of the time. As an Auror she had to be more than capable to walk without tripping. Again she wanted people to love her for her not outward appearances.

She knew in her heart after hearing Harry's words that she would marry him. The love may take time to grow but if he was as willing as he said he was to make her happy, even in this forced situation, then she was willing to meet him halfway. By the end of Harry's rant she slowly walked backed to her room with silent tears falling from her cheeks.

She realized that he would never force her into anything she didn't want to do and she knew she would never force him to do anything he didn't want to. It made sense that if they both put in the effort to make the other happy then just maybe this situation could work out for everyone. The Order will get to keep their headquarters, she would get a selfless husband who would do anything to make her happy even at his own cost, and Harry would get someone to confide him and to give him the family that he never had growing up.

She decided to go back to her room and lie down and go over how this could possibly work out for everyone. Now that she knew how Harry felt, and she knew how she felt, she knew that it was time for her and Harry to have a talk. So she put on her bathrobe and headed down to the kitchen to wait. She knew that since he had skipped dinner like her that he would be up and in the kitchen before anyone else the next morning. So she sat at the table with her tea and waited for him to arrive.

Harry slowly sat down at the table almost fearing the conversation he was about to have. He had never been very good at talking to girls let alone women. He had absolutely no idea how to proceed in this situation. So he waited.

They sat in silence for almost thirty minutes before he couldn't stand it anymore and spoke to her.

"Tonks-"

"Harry-" Tonks started at the same time.

They both gave a little smile now that the tension was broken. Tonks decided to let him go first and motioned to Harry to continue.

"Tonks, I just wanted to apologize for putting you in this situation. I-"

"It's not your fault Harry. You are as much a pawn in this situation as I am. The only difference is you were informed about it first so it seems more like your doing than it actually is."

"But-"

"No buts, Harry. I heard you talking to Ron upstairs after the meeting."

"You heard that? Um….How much did you hear?"

"Enough to make my decision. I want you to know that I have made up my mind and I do not intend to change it."

Fearing her response Harry remained silent.

"I have decided that if you are willing, then I would like to go ahead with the marriage."

Whatever he had expected it wasn't that. He sat there slack jawed trying to figure out why she hadn't drawn her wand and hexed him yet.

His expression must have shown on his face. Tonks let out a small laugh and then took pity on him.

"Close your mouth Harry. Yes, I was upset at first and I actually did go to your room with the intent of hexing you. But once I got to your room I heard you yelling at Ron about what I can assume was his 'why can't I be lucky enough to bag a woman that can change into anyone I want' comments. It was when I heard your response that I stopped and truly considered your position in this and realized that both of us are in the same boat."

"I also figured that since you are so willing to go out of your way to make this work, then the least I could do is to meet you halfway."

"What about the age difference?" Harry finally found his voice and asked the first question he could think of that she hadn't covered yet.

"What about it? Does it bother you? I realize that I am six years older than you but you are also more mature than most people my age, myself included. It was awkward thinking about it to begin with but ten years from now the age it won't seem so bad. A 26 year old and a 32 year old as a pair are fairly common. It seems like a lot now but it won't matter soon enough. It doesn't matter to me now and in the end it only matters what you and I think. You will be at the age of consent on your birthday and then it is your choice."

"You've really thought this out haven't you?"

"I guess in my heart I knew the answer after I stopped eavesdropping on your conversation, so yeah I have had a bit of time to think through the details of it."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"So I guess we make the announcement tomorrow?"

"Today. Or did you already forget that it is almost breakfast time."

"Oh yeah. Well we have a few minutes still before anyone else arrives so how about we iron out a few more details?"

"OK. I think that we should probably plan for the ceremony to be on your birthday. After all we have to make sure that you are at the age of consent."

"I think that that is for the best. If you don't mind I would like to spend the rest of the month getting to know each other a bit better. You know like birthdays, favorite color, likes and dislikes, things like that."

"I think we can arrange something like that." Tonks replied with a smirk. She had already come up with some ideas as to how they could get to know each other better. She had some vacation time from the Aurors that she planned on using this month. Since she had spent her entire time with the Aurors knowing about the return of Voldemort, she never used any of her vacation time last year so she could spend the time getting information for Dumbledore. She planned on taking full advantage of that situation now. She had a month and half of paid vacation and she was going to take it all right now. After all, what better way to spend ones vacation then getting to know their fiancé? It's not like she would need the money after her marriage anyways, if the Black fortune is as big as everyone makes it out to be.

Harry was just getting ready to respond when Remus walked into the kitchen. He got up and walked over the grey haired werewolf and gave him a hug. He had unofficially adopted Remus as his father figure. He was after all the last of his father's friends.

Remus was a little surprised at the greeting but returned it just the same. He had no intentions of trying to replace Sirius in his life but he knew that he would always be there to support Harry in everything he did. Remus had stayed silent during yesterday's Order meeting. He had long thought that Harry was capable of making his own decisions. He decided to sit it out and see how he handled the situation. He was mildly surprised to see Tonks at the table with a smile on her face. He thought she would have had her wand drawn and Harry backed into a corner.

Remus joined them at the kitchen table and the two of them filled him in on their decision. To say he was shocked was an understatement. He was almost positive that they would eventually agree to it and get married but he never expected them to be so content with making that decision fourteen hours after the situation was brought to their attention.

Remus sighed and looked at Harry. "Harry, I think it is time that you and I had a 'talk'."

Realizing the talk he was about to get Harry blushed beet red and looked to Tonks for help. Tonks for her part was trying her best to not laugh out loud in front of Harry. She only succeeded in snorting rather loudly.

Remus looked at her and smiled. "And what makes you think that you are going to get out of this situation free from embarrassment?"

"I'm 22 years old, Remus. I had that talk when I turned 16."

"Be that as it may, I think it is time that you had another talk with your mother. I'm sure that she would want to be informed of her daughter's engagement before the Order of the Phoenix is. Don't you agree,_ Nymphadora_?"

Scowling, Tonks decided that he was right and left the room to go get dressed and floo her mom.

"So, Harry. When a man a woman love each other they……..

That was as much as Tonks heard before the door closed and she headed upstairs.

Tonks arrived back in the kitchen ten minutes later to see Remus sitting with a glass of firewhiskey looking like he had blushed a great deal recently and Harry, who was still sitting at the table with his head in his hands rocking back and forth. She could not see his face but his ears were as dark as the Weasley's hair.

She walked up behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders. She expected him to be more embarrassed and maybe stutter a bit when he turned around and saw it was her. What she got instead was a look of terror and then Harry ran from the room blushing horribly. Remus just shook his head and downed the rest of the firewhiskey.

Tonks decided to go after Harry since she needed to talk to him anyway. He was going to have to get used to being around her if they were going to be married. She also promised her mom that as soon as she finished getting ready that she was going to bring her fiancé over to meet her and her dad. She did not tell them the circumstances of the marriage or the name of her fiancé. She figured that that was something that needed to be discussed in person.

Tonks found Harry in the sitting room. He was lying down on the couch with his eyes closed. Tonks sat down next to him and he looked up. He did not run this time but he couldn't maintain eye contact for very long either. They sat there for a few moments before Tonks turned to him and said, "Harry I know that whatever twisted version of the talk one of the marauders was able to think up has probably embarrassed you more than is necessary but I need to have a serious discussion right now."

"What's up Tonks?" Harry immediately did his best to act in control of his emotions realizing that this was something that obviously had her a little worried.

"My parents want to meet you?" Tonks said not quite meeting his eyes. This was all still new to her too. She never had a serious relationship were she had to take her boyfriend to meet her parents and now she had to bring her fiancé.

"When?"

"Right now."

"OK."

"OK?"

"Yeah. OK. I knew one of the things to expect in the near future was to have to meet your parents. While I wish that I had a bit more time to prepare for it, I knew it was going to happen. It's best just to accept the fact and meet it head on since it can't be avoided."

'Maybe this wont be so bad after all. He certainly has no problem taking responsibility in situations were it is required.'

"OK then. Let's go."

"How are we getting there?"

"We are going to floo to the Leaky Cauldron and then take a muggle taxi to their house. They have the floo set up so that you can make floo calls but not enter the house that way. It would be too easy for Death Eaters to get to them."

"I'm going to go tell Remus where we are going and then we can head out."

"Should I go change first?"

"No you look fine." Tonks said, even though he looked a lot more like a homeless person than a powerful wizard. She couldn't understand why he always had to wear around those rags.

"Ok let's go." Harry responded.

After telling Remus where they were headed and assuring him that they would indeed be back before the meeting started the headed to the floo. The distance from the Leaky Cauldron to her parent's house was actually further than the distance between Grimmauld Place and her parent's house but it was not safe to call for a taxi in front of the Order's Headquarters.

They hailed a cab and Tonks told him to go to Number 19 Oak Ridge Drive. The ride took about fifteen minutes in which Tonks gave Harry a crash course on what to expect from her parents. She assured him that he would do fine.

Harry stood next to Tonks as she rang the doorbell. A woman in her early 40's answered the door and Harry assumed that she was Andromeda Tonks.

Andromeda's eyes flickered over Harry quickly before turning to her daughter and giving her an enthusiastic greeting. After the hug, Tonks motioned to Harry.

"Mum, I would like you to meet my fiancé, Harry Potter."


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Announcement 

'Thump' was the reaction that Tonks' statement brought.

As she was waking back up Andromeda felt a decent sized headache coming on. She was trying to remember what exactly happened that caused the head ache to begin with. She vaguely remembered talking to Nymphadora that morning and that she had been informed of her only daughter's engagement.

Of course knowing her daughter as well as she did, she knew that Nymphadora never had any serious boyfriends. So she immediately demanded that she come to breakfast that morning and to bring her 'fiancé' with her. She had just assumed that this was some sort of a ploy to get a rise out of her. Never once had she brought home a boyfriend, not that there were too many to begin with…If her daughter was to be believed. She assumed that her daughter was just joking around and that she would bring someone from work with her to pull off the act.

Never in a million years did she expect her daughter to show up with Harry Potter. Then it hit her. The reason she had passed out and had a headache. Her daughter was there and claimed that she was engaged to the boy-who-lived. She sat up as fast as she dared and saw both her daughter and Harry sitting in the living room talking to her husband.

As soon as she sat up Tonks' noticed that she was awake. She got up and sat down next to her.

"Mum. Are you feeling better?"

"I'll feel better when care to explain why you show up in the middle of London with Harry Potter. You should know better than that Nymphadora." Ignoring her daughter's look she continued. "And you, Mr. Potter. You should know better than to be running around London in broad daylight with only one Auror. Its not that I don't trust Nymphy here but she is only one Auror. She wouldn't stand much of chance if you were spotted by a death eater and You-Know-Who himself decided to attack you."

Harry was torn between irritation at being treated like a kid and amusement at hearing the Tonks' nickname. One look from Tonks' decided that he should drop any comment he may have had about her mother's use of her name.

"Well Mrs. Tonks. I assure you that I am perfectly safe in London right now. My scar, while annoying, does serve a very useful purpose. It allows me to know whenever Voldemort is near me. I will know if he is anywhere close to where I am. As to why I am here, Tonks informed me that you wanted to meet her fiancé as soon as possible. So here I am."

"You? You are her fiancé?"

"Yes, I am."

Turning faster than anyone thought possible she was facing Tonks again. "Are you pregnant?" She demanded.

Tonks' mouth dropped open unable to respond. She had never seen her mother this angry with her before and for no reason at that.

"You are aren't you? You seduced the boy-who-lived and now are forcing him into marriage? I cannot believe you Nymphadora. How could you do that to him? He's just a kid himself."

Tonks is still sitting there trying to form words with silent tears streaming down her cheeks. She can't understand how her mother would just make these kinds of accusations.

Having heard enough accusations already and seeing how upset Tonks is getting Harry decides to step in.

"Mrs. Tonks! I assure you that no such thing has happened. I never grew up to know my own parents, so what I think in this situation may be irrelevant, but I am going to say it anyway. As of right now, I am appalled at you. I can't believe that you would automatically start jumping to such horrid conclusions without even waiting to hear any sort of explanation from the people involved, much less when it is your own daughter."

"Can't you see how much your words have hurt her? In the entire time I have known her, I have never seen her cry. Never. I have known her for over a year now and we have met on a few different occasions for different reasons. I have never seen her as distraught as she is now. Even when she was fighting with Death Eaters she never let her emotions go this far."

"Tonks and I will stay sitting right here until you decide to apologize to her." Harry finished coldly.

Ted Tonks had sat back and watched the entire scene unfold. He himself was rather surprised at the conclusions his wife jumped to. He had spent the last 45 minutes that his wife was unconscious listening to the two of them explain everything that had happened since Sirius' death. They had told him to begin with not to interrupt and to listen to the entire situation before making any rash comments or decisions.

He was as shocked as both Tonks and Harry were when they explained the existence of the 'Purity Laws' to him. He, just like Harry, was raised by muggles and never knew such laws existed. Tonks was also in the same boat as them because while both of her parents were magical; they lived in the muggle world and her mother had long since been disowned from her family.

After hearing everything the two had to say and their reasoning behind the decision, he asked a few questions of his own. He wanted to know if they both knew the consequences of being involved in a Wizarding marriage. Both Tonks and Harry assured them that they knew how serious it was since there were a series of wizard oaths involved.

While he truly had no say in the matter because Harry was not his kid and Tonks was over the age of majority, he gave both of them his support. He informed them that it was their decision to make as it was their lives and not his. He told them he had no idea what he would do in that situation but he was proud of how they had taken the responsibility to make a decision after fully considering the effects it would have on their lives.

He decided now would be a good time to get involved in the conversation that he been silently watching. He stood up and walked over to his wife.

"Come on, Andy. We need to have a talk." With that he took his wife into their bedroom while give both Harry and Tonks a reassuring smile.

Tonks did her best to return it but found that she couldn't.

After Ted and Andromeda left the room Harry walked over and sat next to Tonks.

"Tonks, are you-" That was as far as he got before he found Tonks' arms around his neck and her crying into his shoulder.

"H-HHH-How could she say those things about me? Harry? My own mother? Does she think I am some kind of trollop that goes around seducing people just to get a husband?" She cried

"Shhh. It's Ok. I'm not sure why she thought those things. But you know they aren't true."

Harry tried his hardest to sound sincere. He was never any good at consoling women. Look at Cho. He remembered seeing a scene on T.V. show at the Dursley's one time when they weren't there. He just remembered the guy sat there and kept whispering things to her while she cried. So that is what he did. He sat there and held Tonks as she wept into his shoulder for a bit.

Finally she pulled herself together and gave Harry a small smile which he returned. They sat in silence for another 10 minutes before Ted and Andromeda returned.

Andromeda was much more level headed after the reprimand her husband just gave her. He refused to tell her anything about the current situation. He simply pointed out how disappointed he was in the way she accused their daughter of such things. He told her that he knew of the reasons behind the marriage and when they went back out there she would need to apologize to Nymphadora and Harry and listen to what they had to say.

She sat down where Harry was sitting before on the love seat with her husband sitting beside her. Tonks refused to look up at her mother and only then did Andromeda realize what kind of an impact her earlier words must have had.

"Nymphadora?" she asked quietly

Only then did Tonks address the fact that her mother was in the room. The amount of hurt in her eyes caused Andromeda's breath to hitch. She didn't say anything else she simply got up and walked across the room and pulled her daughter into a hug.

"I'm sorry Nymphy. I don't have any excuse as to why I said those things. I'm so sorry. I guess I was just shocked. I mean he's what 7 years younger than you? I know that doesn't make up for the things I said but I truly didn't mean them."

Tonks was still hurt by her mother's earlier words but she just nodded into her mother's shoulder that she understood.

"Six." She mumbled.

"What?"

"Harry is 6 years younger than me not 7."

"Oh. Well I still would like to hear how this came to be."

"Well I guess the best place to start is the beginning. Harry and I met last summer……"

Tonks proceeded to tell her mom all about how they met while she was apart of his escort and ended with the conversation that they had in the kitchen that morning. Andromeda calmly sat and listened to the entire story and frowned towards the end of it. She knew Sirius had died of course. Her daughter had told her as soon as she was released from St. Mungos, but that didn't mean that the thought had entirely sunk in until now. Had she not known that Sirius paid no attention to rules and much less some of the oldest pureblood laws she would have sworn that he had planned this whole thing out as one final prank that he couldn't get in trouble for.

She, like her husband, was proud of her daughter. She realized that in the end no matter what she said Tonks could do whatever she wanted to do and most likely would. Her daughter had always been strong willed. She was never coerced into anything. She knew that if the two of them were serious about this then they would have her blessing. After all she knew what it was like to be shunned by your parents and she didn't wish that on her daughter.

She decided she may as well give them her blessing and tell them to contact them if they needed anything.

Sighing she said, "I know that once you make up your mind about something there is no sense in trying to change it. I only ask that you are 100 percent sure about this as there are no second chances in regards to this. Your father and I will always be here for both of you. I know that you two must be on your way soon as you have your appointment that you kept talking about but I would be happy if the two of you would stay for a late breakfast."

"That would be great, Mrs. Tonks." Harry said cautiously while chancing a look at Tonks. Harry was still a bit unsure of his feelings towards Mrs. Tonks. He did not like the first impression he got of her but he was willing to try to get along if it would make Tonks happy. He had already told her indirectly, through her eavesdropping, that he would do whatever it took to make sure she was happy. Seeing that Tonks looked somewhat excited about having breakfast there he would give her another chance.

"Nonsense Harry. Call me mum. You'll be my son-in-law soon enough anyways." With that she left to the kitchen to start on breakfast.

Harry looked unsure about calling her mum considering he had never called anyone that in his life except for that one time with Aunt Petunia that he got punished for. But again Tonks seemed to take that as a good sign and smile widely at him. It appeared that she had forgiven her mother of her earlier outburst.

Harry, Tonks, and Ted all went into the dining room and made small talk until the meal was ready. Ted kept trying to ask Harry questions about growing up but soon gave up when he realized that Harry didn't want to talk about it.

They finished their breakfast around 11:15 and Tonks and Harry made ready to leave. They knew that it would be almost 11:45 when they got back.

"I really want to apologize again to both of you. I can't imagine what kind of an impression I must have left on you Harry. Please realize that both of you are welcome here anytime and I want to be kept informed of any information regarding the wedding. I expect you to let me go with you to buy your dress Nymphy dear."

Tonks tried her best to ignore the nickname but a small scowl could still be seen on her face. She thanked her mother and gave both of her parents a hug.

Harry shook Ted's hand and approached Andromeda. He was unsure exactly of what to do. He figured he should hug her but didn't know what she would think about it. Andromeda took the decision out of his hands and gave him a hug which Harry mildly returned.

Harry and Tonks went outside when the taxi they had called arrived. Since they had around 15 minutes before they would arrive at the Leaky Cauldron Harry decided to voice his opinion on her family.

"Well. I must say that it was a bit eventful but not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I more expected a bad reaction out of your dad then your mum. I figured that when he found out that you were getting married he would chase me around the room hexing me. I had a dream similar to that a few nights ago just after the goblins told me everything. I dreamt of myself telling you and you didn't take the information very well. You did chase me and hex me. You hexed me so bad in fact that both of my legs ended up broken."

"Ironic how close that was to be a reality had you not heard me yelling at Ron." Harry said with a smile.

Tonks returned the smile before it turned into a mock pout. "Do you think that I am only capable of breaking your legs? I'm a fully trained Auror. I think I could come up with something a bit more amusing than that."

"I'm sure you would have too. My dream ended before you got a chance to finish hexing me."

"Maybe we could have a duel sometime and we can see just what will happen." Tonks replied with a smirk before turning serious again. "You know, my mum is not that bad. I don't exactly know what caused her to respond that way in the beginning but she really is a nice person."

"I understand Tonks. I'm not quite sure how you were able to forgive her so fast though after saying everything she did, but I trust you and if you say that she is normally a nice person then I will give her another chance."

"Second chances are a good thing Harry, most of the time. And as for how I could forgive her, I guess that just goes with being family. You can pretty much forgive someone you love for anything. Do you know what I mean?"

"No. Not really." He whispered but she seemed to have caught it anyway. After the way he dodged all of the questions about his family earlier she decided to drop it for now but she would be sure to get him to open up to her at some point.

They didn't say anything else the rest of the trip back. They arrived at the Leaky Cauldron and had to wait in the queue for about 10 minutes before it was their turn to floo out. They arrived at Grimmauld Place with 5 minutes to spare before the meeting. They decided the best idea would be to just go straight to the kitchen and wait for it to start.

"Now that we are all here I think it would be best if we got this meeting underway." Dumbledore announced from his seat at the head of the table.

"First let's hear from Mr. Diggle and Ms. Jones as to what they found out about these laws."

"Nothing, sir. Absolutely nothing. The loophole the goblins pointed out is the only way to get around it."

"Very well. Thank you Ms. Jones. It would appear that we need to start thinking about how to remove anything sensitive to the Order out of here. We will also need to start looking for another building to hou-"

"That's not necessary sir." Harry interrupted.

"Would you care to explain why not Mr. Potter?"

"Well you see, sir, Tonks and I had a discussion this morning. We decided that we are going to go ahead a get married on my birthday."

With that declaration all hell broke loose in Grimmauld Place.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Mayhem 

Harry couldn't even begin to interpret complete sentences from anybody in the room. The only thing he could hear were small chunks of words from different people. The most pronounced was Mrs. Weasley. 

"-too young-"

"-never work-"

"-6 years older-"

"-happened to decide this?-"

"-just like his arr-"

He even heard something that sounded like crying and looked up in time to see who he thought was Ginny leaving the kitchen.

Harry finally tuned them out and looked over at Tonks. She seemed to be amused by the proceedings. She felt his eyes on her and turned to look at him. She gave him an amused smile and leaned over to whisper to him.

"How long do you think this is going to last? Even Dumbledore can't calm them down."

"I don't know. My guess is old Voldy himself could make an appearance and not draw any attention."

"You're way to used to this whole dark lord trying to kill you thing if you can joke about it like that."

"Yeah well it seems to happen every year. I just figured if you can't escape from it then you may as well adapt to it." Harry then looked a bit nervous. "You do realize what this will do to you right? He will start to go after you to get to me."

"I knew that it was a likely possibility when I agreed to marry you. It was kind of difficult not to add Him into the equation when thinking this through."

"And you still agreed to do it?"

"I'm still sitting here aren't I? Harry. I am a trained Auror. I have been in danger since this war started. Granted I may be a bit higher up on the priority list now but I think I can handle most of the situations that may come up."

"I would almost bet that it would put you at number 1, above me. It would be better for his psychological warfare games to hurt me by killing the people that are close to me before actually getting to me. He is a sick person Tonks."

"Harry, listen to me. I am telling you I already know this. I spent a great deal of time last night going over what this marriage would mean to you, me, my job, my family, your family, the Order, and everyone else. I knew the risks and I accepted them. Just leave it at that. I wouldn't be sitting here if I didn't want to be."

Harry still didn't look very convinced. However their conversation ended as they realized that everyone had stopped talking and was now looking at them.

"What?"

"You two really are serious about this aren't you?" Dumbledore mused.

"Would we have brought it up to begin with if we weren't?"

"Of course you would have. It's just another way to gain even more attention by flaunting your fame. Your father was no different. He went parading around with your mudblood mother on his arm the second they started dating." Snape sneered from his corner.

Harry lost his temper at that and stood up and drew his wand before anyone could stop him. He was almost through with an incantation before he saw a purple beam hit Snape and knock him out of his chair and to the floor.

Confused, Harry looked around to see who had cast the spell. He saw some of the Order drawing their wands but the only one that had a wand in their hand was Tonks. She had an equal look of hate on her face as she stared at Snape's fallen figure.

Harry lost some of his anger due to his confusion. He lowered his wand and looked at Tonks expectantly. She finally seemed to calm down a bit and turned to face him. Upon seeing his quizzical look she responded.

"After everything that we talked about today and everything you did for me at my parents I think I should be allowed to do the same for you. The only difference is there wasn't any hexing involved at my parent's house. Besides you would have gotten in trouble at the ministry again. Can't have that happening any time soon. It might interfere with the wedding." Tonks finished smirking at him.

Harry just groaned. His anger almost completely forgotten. The wedding was already dictating his life and it was only decided on today. He couldn't even hex his most hated professor without it interfering with 'the wedding.'

"What's this about the two of you being at Tonks' parents Harry? You know better than to go anywhere without telling the Order." Mrs. Weasley chided while muttering under her breath about 'how they were leading Tonks' parents on because there was no way this wedding was going to happen.'

Harry loved Mrs. Weasley like a mother but sometimes she just didn't know when to keep to herself. "For your information, Remus was aware that we were going to be at the Tonks' house and he was prepared to inform you of our whereabouts if we were not back here in time for the Order meeting. The reason that nobody else knew where we were is because we left for the Leaky Cauldron before anyone else was up. Not that it was anybody else's business to begin with. This was a personal matter between me, my fiancé, and my future in-laws."

"You can't be serious about getting married Harry dear." Mrs. Weasley just wouldn't quite.

"As serious as I can be. Would you prefer me to state a wizard's oath here and now declaring my intentions?"

Mrs. Weasley blanched. 'He can't get married to Tonks. He is supposed to fall in love with Ginny. They would be perfect together.'

"Mrs. Weasley. It is obvious to everyone here that you care a great deal about Harry. However it is time that you realized something. Sirius spent all of last year trying to get you to understand this and it bears repeating again. You may love him like a son and he may love you like a mother, but you are not his mother." Tonks interjected on Harry's behalf before he lost his temper for the third time that day. It amazed her, now that she thought about it, how much everyone truly did try to control his life. It seemed like everyone had their own agenda for him and he was cursed with having to deal with manipulations for the rest of his life.

Mrs. Weasley had not been as discreet as she thought she was with her own agenda. It was obvious to Tonks that Mrs. Weasley wanted Harry to date Ginny. That much had been disturbingly clear in the times she had seen her talking about Ginny while Harry was within hearing range.

It was obvious that Harry had picked up on the main reasons for Mrs. Weasley's objection too.

"Mrs. Weasley. I know that you always thought Ginny and I would be perfect together. I know that she still has feelings for me regardless of what she tells Hermione. The only problem is that I don't have feelings for Ginny in that way. I love Ginny like a sister. She and Hermione are the sisters that I never had. I will always love Ginny in that way but it is not romantic feelings."

"What's the matter, mate?" Ron spat the last word out of his mouth like he did Malfoy's name. "My little sister not good enough for the great Harry Potter?"

Harry was taken aback by Ron's attitude. He knew that Ron had been hinting that Harry should ask Ginny out at the end of last year. Ron wasn't the most subtle person in the world, but he obviously still harbored ill feelings towards Harry and his fame. He obviously thought that he was only pushing Ginny aside because he was going to marry Tonks.

"I'm not quite sure what you are so mad about Ron" Harry made sure to draw out the name. "but I just don't feel that way about Ginny."

"You only 'don't feel that way about Ginny' because you have a whore who can be anybody you desire. Not for the first time Harry Bloody Potter gets everything he could ever want."

For the second time that day somebody fell to a curse and Tonks was reduced to tears. This time the curse had come from surprisingly Hermione. Before moving over to Tonks to try and comfort her again he shot a raised eyebrow at Hermione. She just shrugged.

"I've never used magic out of school before. I will only get a warning."

Harry merely smiled at her and moved over to Tonks.

"What is it about me that makes everyone think I'm a whore?" She cried. "What did I ever do to him? I've never even talked to him before."

Harry shot a look at Dumbledore that told him 'You had better get these people out of here now' to which Dumbledore merely nodded.

"We have concluded the business that needed to be discussed here today. This meeting is adjourned."

"Surely you aren't going to allow them to get married Albus?"

"That is not your concern Molly. Tonks is old enough to make her own decisions and on Harry's sixteenth birthday he reaches the age of consent in Great Britain and may marry anyone he chooses. End of discussion." With that Dumbledore disapparated without a sound.

Most of the other members left the same way with the exception of the Weasley's and Professor McGonagall. The Weasley twins levitated Ron out of the kitchen followed by the rest of the Weasley's and Hermione. McGonagall levitated Snape over to the fireplace and threw in some floo powder before levitating Snape into the grate and sending him to Hogwarts. She disapparated immediately afterwards.

Harry made no move to speak until he was sure that every one else was out of the room.

"Tonks?" she didn't move or acknowledge other than to hold on to him a bit tighter so he tried again.

"Tonks? Please look at me." He slowly pulled away from her and she looked up into his face.

"Why is it that you care so much what other people think? You know that he was just saying that to hurt you."

"I know." She whispered almost to herself. "It's just that it reminded me of my first boyfriend at Hogwarts. We had been dating for a bit over a week and he told me that he wanted to date a redhead and wanted me to change my hair. I broke up with him a few days later because the only thing he would ever do was to ask me to change some part of myself."

"The next morning I walked into the great hall and every guy in there started cat calling and making suggestive comments. I learned from some of my friends later that day that my boyfriend had gone around and started telling everyone that I was the best lay he ever had and that I was so loose from being around the block that he was able to act out most of his fantasies with me."

"I was devastated. It seemed like everyone in the entire school thought that I would put out for anyone. Even some of my 'guy' friends came up and asked if it was true and why they never got a chance at me."

"This was my 6th year at Hogwarts. I had to live with that reputation for the last 2 years of school just because I wouldn't change my hair color. I never dated again while I was at Hogwarts."

"Just hearing him calling me a whore and not to mention seeing red hair on top of that, it was just too much. It was like I was reliving that day all over again."

"I'm sorry Tonks. I really am. He said those things to get to me and all they did was cause you pain."

"It's not your fault Harry. Call it even since I took away your chance to hex Snivellus." She finished with a smile.

"And just were did you hear about that nickname, Nymphy?"

"If you call me that again, Potter, I will finish what I started with old Snivelly." Tonks retorted with the tip of her wand at Harry's throat.

"Ok. Ok. Jeez. I was just joking."

"Good. So was I." Tonks finished cheekily. "And to answer your question I did spend quite a bit of time around Sirius while I was working for the Order. We both had a mutual dislike for the man. It seems you have it too. However I have never seen him go out of his way to goad anybody like he does you."

"Yes well apparently since I was born looking almost identical to my dad that is enough of a crime to be hated with more loathing than most people have for Voldemort." Harry was happy to see she didn't flinch at the name. Apparently she didn't share the same fear that most people in the Wizarding world did.

As it was getting close to dinner time they vacated the kitchen so Mrs. Weasley could start cooking. She only acknowledged then with a withering glare as she passed.

It appeared that she harbored almost as many ill feelings toward them as Ron did right now. He would have to deal with that later.

Tonks said that she needed to speak with the Headmaster and she would appreciate it if he were there with her as it involved him too.

Trying to figure out what she could possibly need to see the Headmaster about 'right now' that regarded him he simply shrugged and followed her to the study where there was another fireplace connected to the floo network. She threw in some floo powder and called out "Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts." After a few seconds she pulled her head out and told Harry that the Dumbledore would see them now. She grabbed another handful of powder and floo'd to his office. Harry quickly following.

Harry and Tonks took the offered seats opposite of the Headmaster and respectfully declined the proffered lemon drops.

"Now you two, what is it that was so urgent that you needed to speak to me right away?"

"Well, sir, since you obviously know of our decision I had a request to make."

"Go ahead."

"I would appreciate it if you would allow me to take a month's leave from the Order. I am going over to do the same at the ministry after we leave here."

"And why would you need a month away from the Order?" Dumbledore asked with a knowing smile.

"Before this morning, Harry and I have only had a few conversations. We agreed to be married but we know next to nothing about each other. I want to be able to take my accrued time off from the ministry and spend that time at the Dursley's with Harry getting to know each other better. But I would also need the time away from the Order." Glancing over at Harry who seemed stunned, quickly added, "Only if its ok with you course."

Harry snapped out of his stupor. "Yeah. I mean, I never really thought about it but that would make sense. It would give us the time to get to know each other before the wedding. But I don't think the Dursley's is the best place to do that."

Turning to Dumbledore. "Is there any way I can stay at the Order HQ or somewhere else for now, sir?"

"I'm afraid that's not possible Harry. We had this discussion at the end of the term."

"Oh." Harry said and muttered just loud enough to be heard. 'How could I forget? Conveniently waiting until 30 minutes after my godfather died to tell me why you made my life a living hell and kept the reason from me.'

"I really am sorry about that Harry." Dumbledore supplied with a tear running down his face. "But now is not the time to discuss this I would imagine."

"Yes, of course, Headmaster."

"Can I have my leave from the Order then?"

"Of course you can Nymphadora."

"I still don't want the Dursley's anywhere near you." Harry muttered

"We will deal with that tomorrow, dear."

Harry's head snapped up at the term of endearment and Tonks snickered.

"What's the matter Harry? You are going to be married soon. You might as well get used to it now."

"I think it would be best if we just leave now."

"Of course, dear."

"I'm never going to escape from this am I?"

"Hmm?" She replied, mock thoughtfully. "I don't think so. It's too much fun this way."

"Anyways thanks for the help, Albus. I think it we should probably head back now. We have already missed dinner and with the mood Molly was in she isn't likely to save us any. If you need to get a hold of me anytime this month you know where I will be." Tonks said prior to flooing back to Grimmauld Place.

Harry appeared right after her and knocked them both to the floor. Harry got up first since he was on top and helped Tonks to her feet. "That's what you get for calling me dear. Hon." Harry smirked at the gaping Tonks while going into the kitchen.

They both settled in to the kitchen for dinner. Remus had informed them that Molly had tried to get rid of the extra food but Remus snagged enough for two plates before it disappeared. The three of them sat at the table talking about the events of the day. Remus did most of the talking since he had already eaten.

Tonks informed him of their new living arrangements for the rest of the month. Remus almost doubled over in laughter at the look on Harry's face when he asked if Harry needed a copy of any of the diagrams they had gone over during their 'talk.'

After dinner Tonks returned to her room and Harry went into the study to sleep on the couch. He didn't want to be anywhere near Ron right now. He resolved that this was an issue where Ron was going to apologize and he had no intention of speaking to his friend until he does so.

He decided that at some point during the summer he was going to try and talk to Ginny and make her understand how he felt about her. He loved her. Just not the way she wanted him to. With that thought Harry fell asleep. In the morning he would be returning to Dursley's house with his fiancé. Unknown to him his least favorite Aunt was stopping by for a visit.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Dursley's 

Harry woke up after a decent night's sleep trying to figure out where he was. He looked around the gloomy room trying to place where he had seen it before.

Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. He was at Grimmauld Place; and he was engaged. The previous day's memories slowly came back to him as he sat and found his glasses on the small desk next to the couch.

The more he thought about it the less it bothered him. Yeah, he was only 15 right now and would barely turn 16 on his wedding day, but surprisingly that didn't really bother him. He had a feeling that if their relationship continued the way it had yesterday than everything would turn out ok for both of them. 

He was startled to hear about Tonks' time in school, and was rather pissed off at the person to spread those rumors about her. She was too nice of a person to have to deal with something like that. And it obviously scarred her for the rest of her life. He never had any intention of asking Tonks to change her appearance. He liked her just fine the way she was and saw no need to make any 'improvements.'

He figured that if anyone should be sore about this deal it should be her. After all he was a shorter than average 15 year old with untamable black hair, stupid glasses that haven't been changed since he was 8, and barely enough meat on his bones to keep him alive. Not to mention all of the hate mail she is going to receive and the possible impact this could have on her job. 

All considered he got the better end of the deal. He gets to marry a gorgeous older woman, who is an Auror and a metamorphagus. These thoughts kept him company on his way down to the kitchen.

When he arrived the kitchen was already full of people. All of the Weasley's, minus Percy, Hermione, Remus, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Tonks, and even Dumbledore himself made an appearance for breakfast. He figured that Dumbledore was only there to provide him a way to get back to Privet Drive. He seriously doubted that Dumbledore would let him travel with anything other than a portkey.

He took his seat next to Tonks and gave her a smile and quick, 'Good Morning,' which she gladly returned. She seemed to be excited about spending some time with Harry. 'She won't be so excited once she actually meets my family. I hardly think they will welcome her into the family with open arms.' He decided a more thorough warning about what to expect from his relatives would be a good thing before they actually left for Privet Drive.

Talk at the table was mostly subdued and centered on the adults at the table with Tonks telling Kingsley and Remus that she was taking a month's leave from the ministry and the Order. Ron sat by himself near where Mrs. Weasley was still cooking more food for anybody that may arrive late for breakfast. Ginny and Hermione sat next to each other and were having a whispered conversation, while Ron kept looking daggers at the pair of them. It was apparent that Hermione had told Ginny of how her brother acted after she left the meeting and Ginny clearly did not approve of it.

Ginny still would not meet Harry's eyes during the meal but she did give him a small smile. It looked like whatever Hermione had been whispering to her put her in slightly better mood. Hermione, for her part, acted like nothing out of the ordinary happened. She proceeded to talk to Harry about how excited she was to get her OWL results at the end of the month. Harry halfheartedly participated in the conversation since there was no one else to talk to.

Breakfast concluded with Dumbledore requesting a conversation with Harry and Tonks. They stayed seated and waited for the room to clear. Dumbledore produced the same pen that he had take from the Dursley's to bring Harry here and handed it to Harry with that damn twinkle in his eyes.

"I am guessing that your relatives would like to have this back. This portkey will activate at 10:00." Dumbledore said before turning to Tonks.

"Ms. Tonks I assume that you would probably like an hour or so to collect your belongings from your apartment?"

"That would probably be for the best Albus. I won't need it soon anyways. It's not big enough for the both of us to live there even after the wedding."

"Very well then. I am also assuming that you know your way to Privet Drive."

"Yes, I was on guard duty a few times last year."

"Good. Then as soon as you are done with your packing head on over to Privet Drive. I will keep in contact with both of you during the time you are there. If either of you need anything don't hesitate to ask." With that Dumbledore stood up and apparated away.

"Tonks, I think I should warn you about my relatives." Harry started with a grim expression on his face. "I can tell you upfront not to take anything they say seriously. They are horrid people that will say as many derogatory things about you and to you that they can manage. It's nothing personal against you, but I think you should be aware of what you are about to walk into. They will not take another magical person living in the house easily. In fact you may want to keep your wand handy to keep them in line about it."

"I have a few ideas on how to keep them in line. Their behavior at King's Cross was discussed a bit after you had gone. Don't worry about them too much. I can handle whatever they can dish up. Remember, dear, I am a fully trained Auror." Tonks replied with a mischievous glint in her eye.

Harry went up to his room to grab the small bag that contained his clothes so that he would be ready when the portkey activated. Ron wasn't in the room so he didn't have to bother with any awkward situation yet. He took his bag down to the sitting room and just sat on the couch waiting to wait for the portkey to activate.

He only had to wait five minutes before it activated and he was dropped right in the middle of the living room. Normally the Dursley's would have been more than a little angry at this but it was nothing compared to the amount of anger he actually received. He knew that his relatives didn't like him but apparently their hatred was taken to a new level altogether. Then he realized why…..

Marge Dursley had always loved her brother and his wife. She knew that they were upstanding members of the community and that Vernon made an honest living while working for Grunnings. The only thing she despised about his family was that runt nephew of his wife. He was turning out to be a good for nothing beggar just like his parents were. It was all the parents fault. It had to be. How could it be Vernon and Petunia's fault when they raised such a fine young man like Dudley?

She noticed that the boy was nowhere to be found. He had not been invited to Dudley's boxing match yesterday. That would have been disastrous, she knew. Yet she was surprised to find that he was not even at Privet Drive when they all returned late last night. The entire house was empty. Vernon came out of the kitchen and grumbled something to his wife about the boy staying with some freak friends of his and not returning until Monday.

Needless to say everyone was very happy to not have to deal with the delinquent for now. They took the boy's trunk out of his room and put it in the cupboard underneath the stairs. They decided that since he was not there then Marge could use his room. Not that it mattered if he was there. They would have thrown him under the stairs with his trunk.

They had just finished breakfast and were sitting down to have a nice chat in the living room when from out of nowhere the boy appeared in the middle of the living room and crashed to the floor. It wasn't physically possible. How could he not be there one second and be there the next. It can't happen. But it did.

Marge sat there gaping like a fish trying to comprehend what she had just seen. Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley were just as shocked as she was to see him appear out of thin air. Vernon and Petunia's shock instantly turned to anger when they realized what happened and her Dudders just reached underneath him and had his hands on his enormous rear end. That was when Vernon exploded.

"What in the ruddy hell do you think you are doing boy? You are never to use that unnaturalness near us. And now look what you have done. Marge has seen you use your freak powers again. By the time I get through with you this time they wont recognize you, you worthless piece of shit. Get over here." Vernon reached out to grab him.

Harry dodged his hand and kept keeping distance between himself and his uncle. He had never seen him this angry before and that was saying something. He knew that he couldn't use magic on his family; he hoped he could hold out long enough for Tonks to arrive. This was definitely not the way he wanted to start out the conversation he had to have with his aunt and uncle.

He tired of running from his uncle quickly. His aunt was trying to calm down Marge, who still had no idea what the hell was going on, while Dudley watched his uncle chase his cousin with some sort of morbid fascination. Vernon finally snagged Harry and grabbed him by the back of his neck.

"Boy! You're going to your room and you will not be let out until Marge leaves. Any more freakish stuff around here and you won't get out until you go back to that freak school. You're lucky that I'm too tired to punish you anymore than that, and you know what I am talking about." Vernon roared as loud as he could while still being out of breath from the chases.

Harry just hung his head in acceptance since his uncle was still much stronger than him. He couldn't even manage to evade him for very long. A lingering reminder of how much he had suffered from his years at the Dursley's. Neither Harry nor Vernon notice the pink haired woman staring slack jawed from the stairway as his uncle led him towards the cupboard under the stairs. 

"Just what in the hell do you think your doing, Dursley? Let go of him this instant." Tonks demanded. "Come over here Harry. What is this he was saying about locking you in your room? Has he done this before? And why was he taking you towards the kitchen? Your room is upstairs?"

"None of your business freak. This is between me and the boy and has been a long time in coming. Now GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

"I will not be going anywhere until I get some answers."

"Fine, you want answers I will give you answers. This wretched little freak has been nothing but a burden. Ever since your kind dropped him off on our doorstep 15 years ago. You all think you are so much better than us. Thinking you can come around here and tell me how to act in MY house. Think again. What has your kind ever done for us? The only thing you have done is force us to take him in and waste good money on food and clothing for him. He is nothing but a freak. One of you. I will not stand for it anymore. I want him out of this house. I want you out of this house. And I want your kind to leave me and my family alone. NOW!"

Doing everything she can to control her temper, Tonks asks is a surprisingly calm voice. "And where exactly were you going to take Harry? You said you were going to lock him in his room."

"That's right, freak. I was, but now I am throwing him out of the house. His room is over there if you must know. Marge is using Dudley's second bedroom so we moved the little shit to his old room. The door is right there." Vernon finished with a sneer while pointing at the door to the cupboard.

Tonks walked around Harry and past Vernon to open the door. When she was finished looking inside Harry saw her tap her wand to her right hand and a blue glow emanated around her hand and then disappeared. She turned around and faster than either Harry or Vernon could realize her fist connected with Vernon's head.

He never had a chance. Unprepared and still winded from the chase, Vernon was out cold. Then Tonks turned to the rest of his 'family' with a look that even scared Harry somewhat. Her hair changing to a blood red color and her eyes going completely black. She stunned the three remaining family members before turning to Harry.

"How long have they been like this?" She asked placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"As long as I can remember to be honest."

"Well they won't be anymore. I will see to that." She replied with a small smile. "Now why are there four people? Who is this other lady?"

"That is Aunt Marge. She doesn't know anything about magic which is probably why she was so silent. She can't miss an opportunity to make comments about me and my parents. I think she was still in shock because I arrived by portkey in the middle of the room."

"She won't remember anything come morning. I can guarantee that."

"Now, you and I need to have a serious talk with the Headmaster. One that by the looks of things is long overdue. We need to walk over to Arabella's. Dumbledore had her fireplace hooked up to the floo network. And don't worry about them." She said with a point over her shoulder. "They should still be out by the time we get back."

The walk to Mrs. Figg's was passed with Harry answering all of Tonks' questions about what she had witnessed that morning. She couldn't even begin to understand why Albus forced him to grow up in that place. They were in luck. Dumbledore was in his office when they floo'd over. He was a bit surprised to see them so soon but it was replaced with worry immediately upon seeing the look on both of their faces.

"What happened?"

"I think it would be best sir if you saw it yourself. I know you keep a pensive around here. I think it would be best if you got it."

Dumbledore proceeded to retrieve the pensive from his cabinet and placed it on the table. Tonks took her wand and put it to her temple and pulled the memory from her head. She instructed Harry in how to do the same. She had Harry cut off his memory at the point that she arrived so they didn't overlap each other.

Dumbledore went into the pensive to watch the scene while Tonks and Harry sat quietly in his office. Tonks kept her hand on his shoulder the whole time but neither talked. Dumbledore came out of the pensive looking every one of his 167 years. He had a few tear marks on his cheeks by the time he returned to his seat. Harry and Tonks returned their memories to their heads while Dumbledore composed himself. He apologized over and over again claiming it was another of his 'old man mistakes' and how he would have stepped in sooner had he known.

Harry, for his part, shook it all off. All of the apologies in the world won't change the past.

"I will notify the ministry that there will be another magical person living at Privet Drive so Tonks' magic won't be mistaken for yours." He held up his hand to stop the oncoming argument before it started. "You will still have to return there to renew the blood protection as I told you a few weeks ago."

"The ministry will send in some obliviators to modify their memories of the events for today and Ms. Dursley will be taken back to her own house. Just because you have to go back there doesn't mean that things will be the same. I will be meeting with your relatives to discuss their behavior very soon. In the mean time they will think that Tonks is there to guard you and nothing else. When you decide to tell them of your engagement is up to you. Now I must be off to the ministry to take care of this. I will see both of you soon."

Harry and Tonks were almost to the fireplace when Dumbledore made a parting comment. "Very nice use of the physical protection charm, Ms. Tonks. Not the standard use, of course, but executed quite nicely. Good day."

"So that is what that glow was when you tapped your hand?" Harry asked as soon as they were through the floo.

"Of course. You didn't think I would haul off and hit without protecting my hand did you? It hurts to punch someone. That charm is usually used for the opposite reason I used it. Normally Aurors will place it on themselves before going in muggle populated areas to stop from being hit by muggles or any of their weapons. I just figured that it might work well in that situation and it paid off."

"You are going to have to teach me that at some point, Sweetheart." Harry decided to take the pet names to a bit higher level and wasn't disappointed to see Tonks do a double take this time.

"For now let's just go get my stuff unpacked and leave the muggles to the ministry. My stuff is sitting outside your door."

They spent the rest of the night arranging Harry's room for the both of them to live comfortably. Tonks expanded the room to triple its size. She made a duplicate of his desk, bed, and wardrobe without the imperfections. She fixed the problems with the furniture that he already had as well. The last thing they did before turning in for the night was to unpack Tonks clothes and other items.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: London shopping 

Harry woke up the next morning feeling unusually warm. Trying to locate the source of this he tried to roll over in bed and came face to face with Tonks. He had no idea as to when or why she ended up in his bed. He desperately hoped that nothing had happened between them last night, not because he didn't want to do anything with her but he had no recollection of anything after going to bed. He at least wanted to remember his first time. He was careful not to wake her as he gently lifted the covers. He was relieved that he was still dressed in his boxers and Tonks had on a really long shirt.

He remembered asking her about the shirt the night before. She had gone to the bathroom to change while he stayed in the room and stripped to his boxers. He was in bed by the time she came back into the room. The shirt she was wearing seemed to be a man's shirt that went down to mid thigh on her. Harry specifically remember how much of her it covered, or didn't for that matter, as he had to roll onto his to keep the evidence, of how much he noticed, hidden.

Tonks sat down on her bed and was letting down her hair for the night when Harry voiced his question.

"Where did you get the shirt Tonks?" He tried his best to keep the nervousness out of his voice but by the smirk on Tonks' face he had failed miserably.

"Why, Harry? Do you like it?" She asked, standing up and making a show of modeling it.

"N-No. I mean yes. I like it. I was just wondering where you got it. It looks familiar." He regained some of his composure towards the end, after her little show was finished.

Her face fell a bit as she answered. "Yeah, I suppose it would. It was Sirius'. Growing up I always used to like to be comfortable when I slept. So I would steal some of my dad's old shirts that he hardly ever wore."

"After he realized that I would steal his shirts, he started giving them to me when he no longer needed them. I have slept in shirts like this one since I was about 15."

"The reason I am now using this one is because after his death we decided to pack up his things. Remus and I spent two days going through his room and boxing everything up. We each took one item from the boxes to keep with us as a reminder that he won't be forgotten. We were going to let you go through them and choose something too once you were there for the summer."

"Anyways Remus chose a book on the marauders. It was a book that they had apparently written while still attending Hogwarts. Who knows what kind of information is actually in there. He said he wanted to go through and remember everything before he passed it on to you."

"As for me, I chose this shirt. He wore this shirt the last time I saw him before that night. It was the last time I saw him happy. This shirt reminds me of how I saw him that night and I have worn it to sleep every night for a week now." Tonks had tears in her eyes and Harry looked sad as well. He wanted to be able to go through Sirius' things and get something to remember him by too. Then he remembered that Tonks was staying with him until they moved back to Grimmauld Place. He would be able to choose something once he was back there again. Until then he would be able to remember him every time he saw Tonks dressed for bed, and that would do for now.

That was the last they spoke before they turned in for the night. He was surprised that Tonks never asked anymore about his relatives. He could see the questions in her eyes when she looked at him and he was happy that she had restrained herself from asking them so far. He figured that he would not last another day without providing some answers.

After replaying the previous evening through his mind he still had no idea as to why she was in his bed. He figured he would get his answer when she woke up and since he was in no hurry he closed his eyes and fell back asleep.

The second time he woke because he felt the bed shifting. He turned over to see Tonks staring right back at him. She gave him a smile and asked how he slept.

"I slept great, but I do have one question. Not that I am complaining or anything, but why exactly are you sleeping in my bed."

"You had better not be complaining. You're going to have to get used to it pretty soon. Come to think of it I will too. The reason that I was sleeping her this morning was because I woke up early this morning and you didn't seem to be sleeping very soundly. You almost appeared to be having a nightmare and I decided to comfort you. It served two purposes. The first purpose was that you settled down after I laid down next to you, and the second for the obvious reason that we will have to adapt to this sleeping arrangement in about three weeks anyways. At least, if we want to act like a normal married couple."

"What do you mean?"

"I thought Remus already discussed this with you on Saturday. When a man and woman are married they usually have sex with each other. Now don't get the wrong idea, I am not trying to have sex with you right now. I actually prefer to remain a virgin for my wedding night. Anyways, you are only 15 right now. You won't reach the age of consent until the end of the month."

By the time she was through with her little speech Harry looked like all of the blood in his entire body was centered on his face. She had never seen a face that red before and was rather amused that she was the cause for it. Then again she figured it may have had something to do with their current state of undress as well.

She had not actually seen what Harry wore to bed the night before but she didn't see a shirt on him when she climbed into his bed this morning nor could she feel pants rubbing against her legs.

Harry rolled away from her so his back was too her while she pondered what exactly he was wearing. He had not responded vocally to any of her comments about normal married couples, but the bright red blush in his face said it all. Not to mention what she felt brush against her leg when he rolled over. This caused her face to almost match his and she decided that they should probably move the topic of conversation to safer grounds.

She rolled out of the bed and told Harry that she was going to go take a shower. 'A cold one.' She thought to herself. She told Harry that he needed to pick out something nice to wear and she would inform him after she was done with the shower so he could take his.

Tonks took almost 45 minutes to get ready and there was no hot water by the time that Harry got to the shower. He finished his in 7 minutes flat so that he would freeze in there. He came back into the room wearing the jeans that fit him the best and his nicest shirt with the least amount of stains. Tonks just quirked an eyebrow at him as if asking him if he was joking.

"Tonks, you have seen the clothes that I wear. This is all that I have. These jeans fit the best out of all of them after I had Hermione cut off the bottom two inches and sew a new hem in them last year. I still have to wear Dudley's old belt that I modified by poking my own holes in it and cutting off about 12" so it doesn't wrap around me again. Not to mention the fact that this is the only t-shirt I have that isn't completely ruined by stains from his poor table manners."

"Don't you have any clothes that were bought for you?"

"I have my Hogwarts' uniform, but I didn't think that is what you had in mind."

"No, it wasn't. But neither is this for that matter. I was going to take you with me Diagon Alley to do some looking around. I figured it would be good to be out of this house as much as possible. Now we have a specific reason to go there." She finished with a frown.

"And what reason is that?"

Her frown instantly disappeared to be replaced with almost child like glee. She was jumping up and down at the idea. "Shopping!"

Harry looked simply horrified at the though of spending an entire day shopping with a woman. He had endured shopping with Hermione in Hogsmeade for the last two years and that was bad enough. They didn't even have the entire day to spend in Hogsmeade, unlike today. He thought it highly unlikely that he would be through shopping before nightfall.

"Why the long face? Shopping is fun."

"No its not."

"Sure it is. Come on haven't you ever done any shopping to buy things for yourself?"

"The only shopping I have ever done besides school shopping is following Hermione around while she shops at every place in Hogsmeade while Ron and I maybe get to go Zonko's and the quidditch store for half an hour."

"Then you have never been shopping. Come one. Pllllllleeeeeeeeaaaassssseeeeeeee? I promise you have fun. I won't drag you to the boring stores. Come on." She really was starting to sound like a teenage girl. Not that she really cared about that and it didn't appear to bother Harry either.

He caved in at that point. He had no real reason to not go shopping. He was finally going to get some clothes to fit him. It wasn't like money was an issue. He had his trust fund that was hardly touched except for school supplies. Not to mention the fact that he was going to inherit the Black's money. He really needed to get some idea of what this inheritance entails. Mrs. Tonks seemed shocked about it; maybe she had some idea of what he would get.

They set off to Mrs. Figg's house and she answered the door to let them in. She appeared to not be expecting any visitors. She was in a bath robe and had her hair in curlers. That was an image that Harry wanted to forget yet knew in the back of his mind that it would always be there. She told them that she would leave a key for them by the back yard under the flower pot for them to get in if she wasn't there. They thanked her and floo'd to Diagon Alley.

Harry came out first this time and was brushing himself off when Tonks came through. She was much better at floo travel than he was. She managed to only get a few smudges of soot on her clothes and landed firmly on her feet despite the clumsiness she usually displayed. The more he thought about she hadn't tripped or fallen once since they had really started talking to each other.

"Tonks?"

"What's up?"

"I just noticed something. Last year whenever I saw you you were always tripping over something or knocking something over. What's changed? I'm not trying to be rude or anything but it caught my attention."

"The clumsiness was just an act. I first started doing it after I graduated from Hogwarts. It falls into the same category as to why I kept crying about the 'whore' comments before. During my school years I always changed the way I looked with my ability. Nobody other than my parents has ever seen my true form. I wanted people to like me for who I am and not what I look like. I toned down my appearance at Hogwarts to help me achieve this."

"As you know that didn't work. So, after Hogwarts I had a chance to start over again. I joined the Auror training academy with my new 'standard' form. Of course they all knew I was a metamorphagus too since it was on my list of special abilities so I needed a new way to blend into the crowd and hope people look past what they see on the outside and see the real me. I chose a rather annoying habit of being clumsy."

"Most people would stay away from me if they had anything of value. That was fine with me since it was obvious that they were shallow people and would never try to get to know what I am really like. It kept most of the jerks away but a few of them were willing to risk it anyways, but their true colors always surfaced before long."

"The interesting part is that it served another purpose that while unintended proved very useful. You see, everyone underestimated me at the academy. I would keep up my act but I would always win duels when they lowered their guard. None of them thought of me as a threat. I was always too clumsy to shoot straight or something like that. I soon proved my worth in the academy though but I was instructed to keep up my act when facing an enemy so they would lower their guard as the others did."

"That is why I acted that way last year. It wasn't that you were an enemy so much as anytime I was around someone new I would act like that. There isn't much use for the act anymore. I will have to be able to act normal around you and the Death Eaters now know that I can fight since they all saw me at the ministry. As soon as they are released from Azkaban and report it to the others it will no longer serve its purpose."

"Enough talking about me for now. We have plenty of time to share history about each other. Right now we are going shopping. First stop Gringotts."

First they went to Tonks' vault which was closer to the ground level than Harry's vault. Tonks took out about 200 galleons. Harry noticed that her vault was about a quarter the size of his vault. The next stop was Harry's vault which Tonks asked if she could go in too. Harry didn't care. He was a little worried that she might be angry that he had more money than her but he squashed that idea. His money was her money and it wasn't exactly like he went around flaunting it to everyone. He never bought anything for himself except a few joke products and sweets while at school.

The goblin opened up the door to Harry's vault. I looked exactly like it had when he first came. He couldn't even tell where he had taken the money from. It looked just as full now as it did when he was 11. His expression must have given away his question.

"It accumulates interest while it sits here." The goblin commented.

Harry nodded in response and turned to Tonks to ask how much he should get. Tonks was just staring around the room taking in the massive amounts of gold. There had to be two or three million galleons in here.

"Where are all of the family heirlooms?" She asked

"What do you mean Tonks? What heirlooms?"

"A family as old as the Potters must have had some items other than gold in their vault."

"No, miss. This is not the Potter family vault. This is Mr. Potter's trust fund that was set up in case something happened to his parents. Most families do that nowadays. This was set up for him to live on until he reached the age of majority at which time he would inherit the money his parents had."

"So this isn't all of the money my parents had?"

"Not hardly Mr. Potter. This trust was designed to take one percent of the Potter family vault and set it into a trust fund in your name in the event of your parent's death. Their vault has not been opened since then except to add the interest it has earned."

"When was I going to be informed of this?"

"It was stated in the will that Albus Dumbledore would tell you sometime before you reached the age of 17."

"Will I be able to see what's in the vault? I don't want to take anything yet but I would like to see it."

"That is not an option right now Mr. Potter but you may take it up with the Head Goblin if you wish. I doubt he will let you in either but it is within his authority."

"I would like to meet with him as soon as we are finished here."

"How much money should I take Tonks?"

"I think that if this is your budget we should just have them give you a magical bag that is tied to your vault so you can just take the amount of money you need right from it. I have never had one but I have heard my mom talk about them from her school days."

"What do I have to do to set this up? I also want Tonks to be able to get money from here."

"Harry….."

"No, Tonks. This will all be yours soon anyways. It's not like were gonna spend it all today or even before the 1st for that matter."

"Harry. Tha-"

"No Tonks, it's final."

"I was going to say that's sweet of you." She replied dryly.

"Oh."

"If you would follow me back to the cart we can get the bags taken care of and get you an appointment to meet the Head Goblin."

The ride to the surface was rather quick and the goblin arranged for them both to get their money bags in whatever color or pattern they wanted. Harry chose a blue bag since it was his favorite color and Tonks chose one that could change colors to match the holder. She figured that would be the best since it would match whatever color her hair was on that particular day.

The goblin came back after setting up the appointment and told them to follow him and that the Head Goblin would meet with them immediately. He explained that this was extremely rare to have happen. It usually took a month before anyone could meet with him and even then only under extreme circumstances. The Head Goblin did not generally deal with the day to day dealings of the bank.

Smithook greeted Harry and Tonks and offered them both tea the same as last time. Harry decided to get right to the point.

"First I wanted to let you know that we are going to go ahead with the wedding. We will be married on my birthday which is the day before the reading."

"I'm glad to hear that Mr. Potter. I supposed congratulations are in order for you and Ms. Tonks. I realize that the reasons for the marriage are not 'normal' but nonetheless I wish you the best of luck. Now, what other business did you wish to discuss. I was told it had something to do with the Potter family vault."

"Yes. I would like to visit that vault. I know that I cannot take anything but I would just like to see the contents."

"That is not possible, I am afraid. But" he continued as he saw Harry's face drop. "You will be able to access it the day you receive the Black inheritance. With your marriage being completed that makes you the head of a family. As such you will be emancipated and given full access to everything that belongs to you as well as removing the restriction for underage sorcery."

"Ironically enough, Harry, you are being emancipated under the same set of laws that has led you to get married in the first place. I won't go into the details, but the short version is that in the event that all of the legally adult members of a family are dead; they did not wish their children to suffer at the hands of the Ministry. This law was set up to keep their children and vaults from becoming Ministry property."

"So rest assured that you will have full access to the Potter and Black vaults in addition to your trust fund the moment the marriage is completed and the binding is verified. Now I am sorry but I must ask you to leave if you have no further business to discuss. I have a great deal of things that I need to complete."

"Of course, Smithook. Thank you for your time." Tonks and Harry walked outside the office and met the goblin that brought them there. He led them back to the lobby.

"You handled that very well Harry. Sometimes I forget that you are only 15. Some of the Aurors I work with are twice your age and wouldn't have handled it any better."

"Thanks, I guess. Where to first?"

"Madam Malkin's."

Tonks informed him that they would get him some nice robes that he could wear whenever they went to someplace in the Wizarding world but would have go into muggle London to get his everyday clothes. She told him the Wizarding world had their own clothes but unless they had to do with a quidditch team or band then they stuck to robes.

Madam Malkin's immensely enjoyed the free reign she was given to get Harry set up with a good wardrobe. She picked out 10 everyday robes for him. 5 blue ones, 3 black, and two green. These were plain robes with no designs on them. Next she picked out 3 formal robes for him. One was Black with silver trim. The second was dark green with a light green trim. And the third was maroon with gold trimming.

Tonks insisted on battle robes which Harry readily agreed to get on the condition that Tonks get some for herself too. She figured she may as well. It turned out that Dumbledore had decided to make the school a bit of money and had sold the dead carcass of the basilisk before the Chamber of Secrets was sealed. No one had every chosen the skin for robes because it was incredibly expensive. Basilisk hide was stronger than any dragon and it stops most low and medium level curses. While it may not save them from dark magic, they don't have to waste their magical energy on blocking small curses like stunners and such. It could save them enough time to ensure a victory in a fight.

The robe shopping cost him 4,000 galleons. The next stop was muggle London. Tonks wanted to grab some food at the Leaky Cauldron before leaving. They had a quick meal of fish and chips and were back on their way. If Harry thought the measuring at Madam Malkin's was bad then the muggle world was torture. They actually had sales girls that would go around and help pick out clothes to try on. Tonks didn't need any help with that to begin with but welcomed the help.

She did notice one of the girls eyeing Harry in a way she didn't like after he had tried some new clothes on. She may not be the jealous type but they were going to get married. She figured that they would have to somehow signify that they were together.

It was 6:30 when the arrived back at the Leaky Cauldron. As soon as they were inside Tonks instructed Harry to place all of the bags on the ground so she could shrink them. She shrunk all but one bag and put the other miniature bags inside the regular one. She wanted to go to one more place before they returned to Privet Drive.

The reason she had come to Diagon Alley to begin with was to find out how much a pensive costs. Ever since walking in on Harry's family she was really curious about his past. He never spoke of his childhood and from what she had learned the day before it was for good reason. She had refrained from asking him about so far but figured she would have to explain the reasoning behind wishing to buy a pensive.

They headed to Wizard Surplus to search for a pensive. Harry was not happy to be looking for one ever since they had arrived and she explained why she wanted it. He understood that she wanted to know about his past and in all honesty she had every right to know about it. He did not like to talk about growing up with the Dursley's but he figured that at least this way he wouldn't have to explain everything she could see for herself. It was that reason combined with the fact that she was willing to show him her past that had him looking for a pensive in the shop.

Tonks found it first and called Harry and the clerk over.

"How much for this?" She asked holding it up.

"300 galleons miss." Was the reply. "That one is a real deal to get it so cheap. The new ones usually run around 1000 galleons. This one was bought by a wizard a few years ago and he never used it. He decided he wanted to sell it and left it here with his asking price."

Tonks looked over at Harry. He seemed indifferent about it so she figured she may as well get it.

"We will take it. Wait till I tell him that Harry Potter bought his pensive. He will be ecstatic."

"I would appreciate it if you wouldn't mention my being here to anyone at all. I will even be willing to pay extra for the silence. I don't need my enemies knowing that I have a place to store memories. That would be very harmful information in the wrong hands." The look on the clerks face proved Harry's tone and lecture had hit the mark. 500 galleons later they were on their way back to Privet Drive.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Some memories and Harry's Shopping 

They arrived back at Privet Drive that night and unloaded all of the purchases into Harry's wardrobe and threw all of his old clothes into a garbage bag and left them in front of Dudley's door. That took most of the early evening to complete. They were quite hungry after the full day of shopping and only having lunch so Tonks transfigured a small table and then apparated to Grimmauld Place to snag some food that Molly cooked.

She arrived back 10 minutes later with Roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, and some pie for dessert. "Molly wasn't very happy about parting with some of this food either." Tonks told him after spreading out the meal on the table. "In the end I played on the fact that she wouldn't dare deny you enough food to eat after seeing how skinny you are when returning from the Dursley's. Guilt trips always work on mother figures." She finished with a grin which Harry retuned. He knew that despite Mrs. Weasley being mad right now it did not interfere with her maternal instincts.

"What's the plan for tomorrow Tonks?"

"Not much planned actually. I was kind of hoping to start off using the pensieve for a little bit. I don't want to try to go through all of the memories in one day. I think it would be easier on both of us if we did this a little at a time." She was trying to get a feel for how Harry would act when sharing his memories.

Harry was silent for a few minutes. He did not enjoy the thought of sharing his memories of growing up in Surrey nor his adventures at Hogwarts. He knew that she was just curious and was trying to get to know him better before the wedding, but that did not make the thought of sharing his worst memories any easier.

"Are you going to show me any of your memories too?" He asked.

"Of course I am. I'm not doing this to pry into your life. We don't have a lot of time before the wedding and it will make it easier on both of us to share some of the key points in our pasts to let each other know more about our character."

"You do realize that you probably won't want to see most of my memories, don't you?"

"I think I will be willing to see anything you are willing to share. Your worst memories shape you into the person you are more than the good memories do. I understand that you may not want to show me everything but I am more than willing to see everything that you wish me to see."

"How about tomorrow we start off with everything leading up to Hogwarts for you and up to the beginning of my seventh year for me? That will put us up to the same year and then we can go from there."

"That should be ok Tonks. I think I should also make a trip back to London tomorrow. Now that I have all of the clothes I will ever need it is about time to replace my glasses. I haven't had a new pair since I was 8."

"Sounds good to me. I'm going to go get changed for bed. You probably should too while I am gone."

Harry finished getting out of his clothes and ready for bed. He almost wished that Tonks would climb into bed with him again. Its not that he was in a hurry to test out the information Remus gave him but he felt comfortable sleeping next to Tonks. Despite the fact that she told him he had a nightmare the night before he never recalled sleeping better nor did he recall the nightmare.

He was so lost in his thoughts he didn't notice Tonks come back into the room. He also did not see her grab her wand and vanish her bed. The only reason he realized that she was back in the room is that his bed seemed to be getting bigger and bigger. It was about the size of a queen sized bed and took up most of the room where Tonks bed had been before. Only then did Tonks put her wand away and walked towards the bed.

"I figured that it worked out ok last night so we might as well give it a try again. This time with both of us being aware of the situation. It should also be a bit better since we will both fit in the bed now. It was a bit cramped in their last night."

Harry didn't say anything in response instead he just moved over to one side of the bed and allowed Tonks to crawl into the other. He had been wanting her to sleep with him anyways.

Tonks crawled into the bed glad that he had not objected. She was trying to take small steps in bringing them together. Sure they had talked and they were going to start sharing memories with each other the following day but that wasn't everything in a relationship. There was also the physical part.

She wasn't trying to be forward, just moving that aspect along a little bit as they go. She was nervous about pushing too hard too fast and in turn pushing him away. She decided to try one more thing before going to sleep that night.

She rolled over so that she was facing him in bed and leaned in close and gave him a tiny and chaste kiss on the lips. "Goodnight Harry."

Snapping out of the trance the kiss had temporarily left him in he responded in kind and turned to go to sleep.

Tonks woke up first the next morning and noticed that they had shifted positions during the night. Harry was spooning her from behind and had his arm draped over her. The arm was not what caught her attention. It was where his hand was. She knew that he was asleep and probably had not idea that he had a firm grip on her left breast but she smiled despite herself. She knew that he would be beyond embarrassed when he woke up.

Surprisingly she did not mind the fact that Harry's hand had ended up there. No other man had ever touched her there. A few had tried but never got anything more that a slap. She didn't know if it was Harry's innocence that caused her not to care or the fact that she knew that it was going to happen sooner or later anyways. Either way she found it didn't bother her and settled back in and fell back asleep.

Harry woke up about 45 minutes later. He remembered going to sleep next to Tonks the night before, but not in that position. He felt something soft yet firm in his hand and judging by the position he woke up in he had a pretty good idea of what it was and quickly removed his hand. He was glad Tonks was still asleep and had not noticed it. He wasn't sure he wanted to witness her reaction.

"Got enough of a feel then, Harry?" She asked sleepily causing Harry to freeze. She apparently hadn't been as asleep as she appeared to have been.

"I…I…uh….It was an accident Tonks. I didn't me-"

"It's alright Harry, relax. I know that you didn't do it on purpose. I was just joking with you. You need to loosen up a bit."

"I'm sure that it was the first time you have been in that position, but it was the first time I have as well. I knew there was a possibility of that happening when I got into this bed last night. I'm sure that it won't be the only time it happens either. We had this conversation yesterday if memory serves. If we want to have as normal a relationship as possible it will happen." She said all of this without turning over to face him. She knew that it would only embarrass him further. "Now go back to sleep. Its only 5:30 in the morning. I don't do early mornings."

She fell silent and went back to sleep leaving Harry to try and go back sleep by himself. He finally fell back asleep at 6:15. Neither of them woke up again before 10:00 that day and only then because they were interrupted.

The Dursley's were informed that their nephew had returned and that he had someone staying with him. They were visited by some man that almost looked ancient. It was a miracle he was still walking. He came to their house the day before and demanded that he be allowed in to speak with them. Petunia was the only one to recognize him. She knew that he was the one she had made deal with by taking in her nephew all those years ago. She also knew that she had never seen him as angry as he was at that point.

Once he was inside they proceeded to the kitchen to have their little talk. The old man never once gave his name and even Vernon held his tongue as he saw the old man draw his wand. He made some gestures with his wand and none of them were able to move or speak. He proceeded to berate them for how they had treated Harry and that if things did not change then he would ensure that the proper 'muggle' authorities were notified. Only after his rant did he release Petunia from the binds long enough to get her to agree to his demands.

He informed them that Harry was to not be mistreated in any way, verbal or physical. He was to be treated with the same respect as any other member of the family. And finally that Harry would have a guest staying with him to make sure that they were 'kept in line.' He told Petunia that she really had no choice in the matter and if she did not accept then the muggle police and social services would be notified and the proper evidence turned over to them. He also informed her that the binds holding her husband and son would wear off in 5 hours. He told her that their confinement was only fitting after stuffing Harry in a cupboard for all of those years and that they should count themselves lucky that he didn't stuff them in there and padlock the door until the charms wore off.

The Dursley's wanted to ignore this threat like the last but it hit way to close to home. They knew that if they ignored this one then all of the neighbors would find about how they treated their nephew. Not to mention what the neighbors would think about them with all of the cop cars coming there and more than likely a bunch of freaks too.

Just because they were forced to treat the 'freak' better didn't mean that they still couldn't force him to do chores. So that morning Petunia sent her Dudders up to wake up the freak regardless of what his guest might think.

Dudley was never one to miss out on taunting and tormenting his abnormal cousin. He thundered up the stairs and threw open his cousin's door and yelled for him to get his lazy arse out of bed.

Once he was inside of the room and took a look around he noticed all of the 'girly' stuff sitting in the open wardrobe next to his cousins'. The next thing he noticed was the huge bed in the middle of the room and the bright pink hair next to his cousin as both his cousin and the owner of the pink hair woke up and turned to face him.

Gaping like a fish he turned tail and ran out of the room and straight to the kitchen. "MUM! Mum Harry has a girl sleeping in his bed with him."

She turned about to respond when Harry and Tonks arrived in the kitchen. Harry had thrown a shirt and a pair of shorts and Tonks had taken one of his pairs of shorts too. They were both still mostly asleep and couldn't care less about what the Dursley's thought of them, but they knew that Dumbledore had sent obliviators over to the house and therefore they needed to explain Tonks' presence.

"What is the meaning of this? The old man said that you had a guest that was staying with you but this is hardly what he led us to believe. He said that you were a fully trained you-know-what. What do you two think you were doing sleeping together under this roof? What would the neighbors think? Ungrateful little brat. Always out to ruin our good name."

"We may have to treat you nicer but that doesn't mean that you can go sleeping around with older women. If the neighbors found out about this we would never be able to look them in the eye again. Not to mention the pink hair. What in god's name made you come into our house with PINK hair?"

After her initial encounter with the Dursley's she was a bit more prepared for the way they acted. She was still a bit surprised at the fact that their attitude hadn't changed much after their encounter with the Headmaster but figured some people never learn.

"Would green be a better color." She responded and concentrated on turning her hair the same color as Harry's eyes. "Or maybe the same shade of purple I saw the fat man change to the other day." Again she concentrated on changing her hair. She knew she shouldn't goad them anymore than was necessary. At least not when Harry was around. She planned on hexing the pretty good when she had the chance.

Harry for his part was trying not to laugh at the disbelieving look on his aunt's face. He wished that Tonks wouldn't push them but he couldn't help but be amused as he watched his aunt's face while Tonks changed her hair color at will.

"I hadn't planned on telling you this yet but as whale boy over here" gesturing over his shoulder at Dudley, "doesn't know how to knock before entering a room I guess it is now necessary."

"This" Harry started as he put his arm around Tonks and giving her a quick kiss on the lips, "is my fiancé. Her name is Tonks. You do not need any more information than that. As I am sure Dumbledore told you people yesterday, she is a fully trained witch and can use magic at her discretion. Now what is it that was so important that you had to come barging in on us?"

"Just because we have to be nice to you doesn't mean that you won't still have to pull your weight around here. You will still be responsible for all of your chores. Don't think that you have heard the last about having this 'woman' staying here either."

Instead of his patented monotone 'Yes, Aunt Petunia.' Reply that she had expected he sneered at her. He actually sneered at her. Just more proof that he is completely ungrateful for the fact that they took him in instead of shipping him off to the orphanage like Vernon wanted her to.

"I will start doing my chores again when whale boy over there starts to pull his own weight. I have done everything for you people. For as long as I can remember, I have been your own personal slave. I have cooked every meal here since I was old enough to reach the counter; I have cleaned the house all day long during the summer to have you claim the credit for it whenever somebody comes over for a visit. I have painted the house and fence and taken care of the garden and mowed the lawn. I have done all of this why you and you fat arse son have sat inside watching T.V. and spying on the neighbors."

"I am not going to do one more chore around her until Dudley gets off his lazy arse and does his fair share around here."

"How dare you even talk to me that way, boy? We took you in as a baby and raised you. We fed and clothed you and gave you an education. The least you could do is help out around the house."

"Is that so Aunt Petunia? I seem to recall the meals as being whatever was left over after you, Uncle Vernon, and Dudley finished eating. My clothes that you 'bought' me were nothing more than what ever clothes Dudley could no longer wear after he moved up another size. I didn't have one nice set of clothes that actually fit me until yesterday. And as far as raising me is concerned, do you call it raising a child by forcing him to be a slave at home. A punching bag for Dudley and his gang at school and at the park. Something for Uncle Vernon to take his anger out on whenever he had a bad day. Never telling me anything about my parents except they died in a car crash and forbidding me to ask about them.

Never having any birthday or Christmas presents. Not even knowing when my birthday was until I was 7 years old. Shipping me off to Mrs. Figg's house whenever you went somewhere. Telling all of the neighbors that I am an incurable criminal that goes to Saint Brutus'. Not to mention never actually giving a damn about my health. What about the time that Dudley broke my arm with the fire poker? I seem to recall being locked in the cupboard after that incident for a full day before I was taken to the hospital. How about the bars on my window? How much more do you want me to point out here?"

Aunt Petunia was more than angry. He turned everything around to make it sound worse than it really was. No wonder that old man looked so mad yesterday. She looked at him coldly. "You wait until your Uncle gets home tonight. I guarantee you that he will sort you out. And as far as your 'marriage' is concerned, it will never happen. We will never sign the papers."

"Sorry to interrupt Mrs. Dursley." Tonks had stayed silent so far. She was too engrossed in the current situation to talk. Unknowingly Harry had pretty much just told her all about his childhood. It may not have been in the most 'ideal' situation but maybe it is better this way. He said it in a fit of anger directed at his aunt and now he won't have to go through that part of his life with her in the pensieve. That is unless there is more to the situation than she already found out. "But Harry will be getting married with or without your consent. I would think that you would be happy to sign the papers. Signing them would mean that he is out of your hair forever. Apparently you people are more despicable than I thought. You would not sign the papers just because it would make him happy. That's it isn't it? That's why you won't sign them?

I assure you that after he turns 16 in the Wizarding world he no longer needs your permission. I will also warn you that if you or anyone else in your family comes within 20 feet of Harry or myself while we are staying here; I will not hesitate to hex you. We will stay away from you. In fact you won't even know that we are here but you will keep your distance too if you know what is good for you. After his birthday we will be leaving this place and you will never see us again. However much I despise all of you right now, I feel it is also important to inform you that while you have been abusing your nephew he has been keeping you alive.

I'm sure by now you know that Voldemort has returned. I know the Headmaster informed you of the significance of this once before. While Harry stays in this house there are protective wards in place. Once he leaves the protection will fall. It will leave you open to attack by Voldemort and his followers. I for one would not be totally saddened by the thought that you will be left vulnerable. Had you treated Harry better he may have been willing to help protect you after he left. As it stands now, I would not object in the least to him just walking away and leaving you unprotected. We shall see what comes to pass in less than a month. Your behavior in this time may decide whether or not you all live to see another year." With that she put her arm around Harry's shoulder and led him out of the room.

"I guess now you know most of what I went through growing up. I'm sorry you had to see that, but thank you for standing up to her." Tonks was trying to think of someway to make the mood a bit brighter and get away from depressing talk but figured that it would be best to get this short discussion out of the way first.

"You have nothing to be sorry for Harry. It is your family that needs to be sorry. I think I understand a bit more about you now that I know what you have to go through being stuck here year after year."

"Yeah." He was thinking along the same lines as Tonks was earlier. He really had nothing else to show her from his early childhood years. He summarized his life with the Dursley's during that conversation downstairs. "I guess we can skip the pensieve session this morning. I have nothing to add about my pre-Hogwarts time to what you already know."

"Are you still wanting to go into London to get your eyes checked today?" Tonks asked.

Harry brightened up at the thought of getting out of the house for a while. "Yeah…..Tonks?"

"Yes, Harry."

"Do you mind if Remus comes with me today. I haven't had a chance to talk to him in a while. Its not that I don't enjoy your company but I probably won't be seeing much of him for a while and I will get to spend everyday with you."

"That's ok Harry. I understand. As soon as I finish getting ready I will go and get Remus at headquarters and bring him back here while you get ready. Ok?"

"That'd be great Tonks, thanks."

Tonks gathered up her clothes and headed to the bathroom. "You know that if you ever want to talk about what happened this morning, I'll be there to listen. Just so you know." Harry nodded in response and waited for his turn in the bathroom.

Harry did want to talk to Remus but not for the reasons he told Tonks. He saw the way Tonks reacted yesterday when the shop girl was eyeing him. He was able to tell what it was she was wanting. She wanted to be able to show people that she was his and vice versa. He had told his friends the night they all found out about this that he planned on getting her a ring and proposing to her in as romantic a way as possible given their current situation.

He wanted to get out and get a ring for her but he really couldn't do that with her right there. He hoped he hadn't hurt her feelings by asking to go with Remus but he really didn't have a choice. He knew that getting his eyes checked would not take long but getting the glasses made would take a bit of time. He planned on making the most of it and getting Remus' help to choose a ring and some other things.

Tonks finished in the shower and it was Harry's turn. He got in and cleaned up and by the time he returned to their room Remus' was already there. He caught himself already considering it 'their' room and not 'his' room.

"Hey Remus. Where's Tonks?"

"She said that you wanted my help to go into London today for glasses and that you wanted to talk to me. She figured she may as well hang around HQ while we were gone since she would be all alone here. I can't say that I blame her."

"Are you ready to go then? I do want to get my eyes checked but I also wanted to do a few other things while I was out today. Things that I couldn't do if Tonks were there."

"Sure thing Harry." Both of them set off to Mrs. Figg's and floo'd to London.

They decided to start the trip in muggle London getting Harry's eyes checked. They hailed a cab and asked them to take them to the nearest eye doctor. It was in a muggle mall. It was a place called "Lens Crafters." They promised to have the glasses ready in an hour. While Harry did not need them that fast it was good to know that they would be finished that day.

After the eye appointment which proved that Harry's eyesight had indeed worsened a lot and he needed new glasses they proceeded to choose out the frames. They searched for about 10 minutes before coming across a set of gold colored wire frames. They were round like his old glasses but did not stand out nearly as much as the thick black plastic frames did. He chose those frames and said they would be back in a couple of hours to pick them up. He paid for them before they left and caught a cab back to the Leaky Cauldron. 

Harry was extremely glad that he and Tonks had purchased the money bags from the day before. It had cost an extra 50 galleons a piece but they had them designed to also allow for muggle money to be pulled from the bags. The bags would also allow for currency changes depending on where they were at the time. Harry decided to get the ring last and asked Remus to help him get one other thing before they returned to the muggle world.

He had yet to tell Remus that he wanted to buy a ring. He told Remus that he wanted a few things but never elaborated. He briefly informed Remus of the fight that morning, what had caused it, and Tonks' threat. He failed to see the amusement in the older man's eyes as he registered why there was only one bed in the room he had apparated to that morning. 

Harry told him that because of Tonks' threat and the promise that they would stay away from the Dursley's that they needed a way to get food without going out to eat for every meal or stealing leftovers from the Order.

"There is a place that sales Wizarding appliances farther down the alley. I think they have some pantries and refrigerators that provide ready cooked meals instead of just the stuff to make them. They are a bit more expensive but they cut down on cooking time and dishes."

They proceeded to the Wizard Warehouse. The clerk that came over to help them was named Sam. He appeared to be a new hire. He was about Tonks' age and seemed a bit arrogant. Regardless of that he turned out to be a great help once he realized who his customer was. He lost his arrogance and became one of the star struck followers. This annoyed Harry to no end and even got on Remus nerves a bit.

Sam was able to get him special express service as he called it. Basically it meant that they could shrink down the fridge and pantry and take it with them then instead of waiting for delivery. The fridge and pantry set him back 4,000 galleons. Not that he cared about the price he was just happy to leave the store and Sam behind.

They proceeded back into the muggle world and picked up his glasses. He decided it was time to come clean as to why he wanted Remus to come with him. 

"Remus? I need your help picking up something for Tonks."

"What do you wish to get?"

"I want to get her an engagement ring. Yesterday while we were shopping some girls were eyeing me while we picked out clothes. Even though Tonks was with me they didn't think we were 'together'. I could tell by the look on Tonks' face that she wants some way to say that both of us are taken. I know that it isn't typical for guys to wear anything during an engagement but that shouldn't stop me from getting Tonks a ring.

It's like I told Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. I know that this may not be the dream marriage that Tonks was hoping for but I am willing to try and make her as happy as possible. It's not hard to tell that most women want to be proposed to romantically and have a nice ring to show off before the wedding. I want to make sure she has most of the things that make women happy. I need help picking out a ring for her and setting up dinner arrangements."

Harry said all of this as fast as he could as if it would make the situation easier. Remus was a bit shocked at the thought Harry had put into this but he was glad to see that he wanted to make Tonks happy. In the end if both of them are happy then that is all that matters.

"I know a good restaurant you can take her too. I will need to call ahead and make reservations ahead of time. I will let you know when you can get in. I am assuming that you wish to do this as soon as possible?" Harry nodded affirmative. "Then let's go choose a ring and then I will make the dinner arrangements and let you know when they are for."

"Thanks Remus."

"No problem cub."

They didn't need to get another cab since they were still at the mall. There were a few jewelers in the mall that they could start with. They searched through all of the engagement rings in three different stores before coming across one that he liked.

The ring was made of white gold with a three thread weave pattern going through the band. At the top of the ring the weave formed a small circle and encased a solid three quarter karat diamond. It was shaped in a pattern called a 'princess cut'. Harry didn't care about the details of what it was called. He knew this was the perfect engagement ring. He went ahead and purchased it. The ring totaled 690.00?.

He didn't know the size but when he told the jeweler he informed Harry that any jeweler could resize it to fit. Harry only hoped that Wizarding jewelers could too.

Remus and Harry headed back to Grimmauld Place for Harry to pick up Tonks before heading back. Remus offered to hold onto the ring for him.

"I will be sure to get it to you when I tell you about the dinner reservations. It will be easier this way without having to try and hide it from her." He said in a whisper. Harry handed over the box with the ring in it and Remus gave Harry the shrunken fridge and pantry. They found Tonks waiting in the study with Professor Dumbledore.

Dumbledore did not have the usual twinkle in his eyes but he did his best to smile as the two new arrivals entered the room. They made small talk for a few minutes and the Tonks and Harry took their leave.

"I like the new glasses."

"Me too. Not only do they look better but I can see better with them too. The doctor said I was long overdue for a new pair."

"I told Dumbledore about this morning." Tonks said quietly.

"I figured you probably would." Harry sighed. "It's fine really. It was only a matter of time before the whole truth came out anyways." He added seeing how nervous she looked. He understood that she was just trying to help.

"What'd you buy, other than the glasses?" Tonks steered the conversation away from the more depressing matters.

"Food." Was the simple answer.

"Food? Where is it then?"

"In my pocket of course. I'll show you back at Privet Drive."

He emptied the fridge and pantry from his pockets once they were in his room again. He had Tonks add a little bit more area to the room and then had her expand the two new items.

"Wow. I've heard about these but I've never seen one. The ones that make the meals for you are really expensive."

"Yes well after listening to this guy go on and on about how great it was that Harry Potter was his customer I just wanted out of there. I didn't even think twice before handing over the money. Its better this way anyways. It keeps us away from the Dursleys and you won't have to go raid the dinners at headquarters."

"What do you want to eat tonight then?" 

"I think spaghetti and meat balls would be good, don't you?"

"Why not." She thought about spaghetti and meatballs with some bread and tapped the pantry twice with her wand. After opening up the door she pulled out the ready made meal. She did the same to the fridge and pulled out two butterbeers. To the muggles that would look just like an ordinary fridge and pantry only it would appear empty if one of them tried to use it.

Tonks kept trying to get more information out of Harry about his trip. She knew that it didn't take nearly that long to go shopping for what he brought back, but he would not budge. He just kept saying that he and Remus took the opportunity to talk about Sirius and a few other things and nothing more.

She finally gave up and they decided to get ready for bed. "Tomorrow I will show you my memories up until my seventh year, How's that?"

"That should be fun Tonks." He replied. Feeling a bit daring after her kiss last night and not getting any argument about the quick kiss that morning he turned to her a gave her another kiss. This one was slightly longer than the previous two but it was still short.

"Goodnight Tonks."

"Night Harry."


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: More memories and Some Plans 

Tonks didn't really ponder the kiss too much the night before. She was the one to start it after all. She knew that it was truly a minor step in the direction of what was to come. Obviously Harry was starting to loosen up around her. That was a good thing that she hoped to develop more in the coming days.

She woke up a few minutes before to find Harry watching her. He blushed a bit and got out of bed saying that he wanted the shower first for a change. Not that she was going to argue with him she just wanted to lounge around all day. So while Harry was in the shower she mused over her thoughts.

She didn't want her relationship with Harry to feel structured but no matter how she thought about it she knew it was. She knew that she had initiated the first kiss as a starter to their relationship. Harry had picked up on it and advanced it to a slightly longer kiss. Now she knew that it was only a matter of time before one of them had to advance it again. It seemed structured but at the same time it really was no different than any other relationship. The only thing that made it stand out is that the progression of their relationship had a deadline of sorts.

She had been involved with one guy for about a week and they had progressed to kissing a bit more intently than her and Harry had. The more she thought about it as long as Harry didn't show any signs of doubt or fear today she planned on taking their kissing a bit farther. She had no idea how far she would get but she wanted to get a bit more out of him then a short kiss on the lips. Her musings were cut short then when Harry reappeared in the room.

The interesting thing was he was only wearing a towel and seemed to be blushing a bit. He had a firm group on the towel around his waist and muttered something quietly about forgetting his clothes in his earlier rush. Tonks didn't want to embarrass him any more right now since she still wanted to go ahead with her kissing plan later on and knew that any embarrassing moments now would more than likely ruin any chances of that happening. She grabbed her clothes and told him that she would go take a shower and let him get dressed.

She did take the chance to at least glance at his body. She had slept next to him for 3 nights now and he only slept in his boxers yet she had never really gotten a chance to see him. He was always under the covers when she got in and in the mornings she is always the first out of bed and into the shower. He was just about an inch taller than her in her natural form. She noticed that he was thin but not sickly so and he really had no muscle mass either. His only form of physical activity other than dueling is quidditch and even then it is just flying on a broom. He didn't look too bad she figured it wasn't as if she was into dating bodybuilders or anything.

Harry took his time getting ready knowing all to well that it would be another half an hour before she returned. He wasn't worried too much about the day to come. He knew that they would be viewing Tonks memories up until her seventh year and that he wouldn't be required to relive his. He knew it was only a matter of time before Tonks asked a few more questions about his past. After his outburst he had given her an insight into his childhood but there was no doubt that it would only raise more questions.

Tonks arrived back in the room and they both had some eggs, bacon, and toast for breakfast with some pumpkin juice to drink.

"Do you want to go ahead and start with my memories right after breakfast or is there something else you want to do first?"

"I didn't have anything planned for the day, so if you don't mind I'd rather start with the memories." 

"Sure thing let me get the pensieve."

"Whose pensieve is it anyway? You seemed like you knew who it belonged to." 

"Dedalus Diggle. He bought it with the intentions of loaning it to the order. He thought it would be a way for him to help. Dumbledore shot the idea down though. He didn't want any information regarding the order sitting in a pensieve that could be stolen. He only had the thing for a short period of time and then decided it wasn't worth keeping around anymore. He was rather sad that his idea couldn't be of any use."

"No wonder he would have been so happy to find out that it had gone to me."

"Yeah. Ok then, why don't you do some rearranging in here while I empty my memories into the bowl?"

"What do you want me to move?"

"I want the two desks side by side behind the table and my wardrobe moved over by yours and the bed. We will need all of the table space we can get to go over wedding plans."

Harry groaned in response but started to move the stuff anyways. It took almost 20 minutes to move the wardrobe. She had all of her clothes in it and needless to say it was anything but light. He finally succeeded and only had to wait a few moments before Tonks was ready.

Tonks took Harry's hand and pulled him into the pensieve with her. They waded through most of her early childhood memories which were much like most kids, except Harry's. Tonks took the time to explain that things like going to the park, visiting Hogsmeade, and playing with other kids in the area were normal things for most kids. He, of course, had seen Dudley do these things with his friends, well except Hogsmeade. Harry was happy to see that Tonks had a relatively happy childhood. He rarely saw any of her memories were she was sad. He knew that she probably edited some of the memories out because they were unnecessary but he was happy to know she grew up with a loving family.

Tonks' childhood, prior to Hogwarts, was spent half in the muggle world and half in the Wizarding. She didn't venture to many other witches or wizards places except for Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. In the muggle world she spent most of her time around Holland Park. Harry did notice that Tonks didn't have many friends though and he asked her about it. She told him that it was hard in the muggle world to make many friends because her hair metamorphagus abilities were not controlled and she had to really watch her emotions or her hair and eye color would change without warning. Her parents even had to obliviate a few families when she got really emotional. So her time in the muggle world was not much fun. When she went into the Wizarding world she was more of an entertainment act than a friend. She explained that part of the reason she is so insecure and will not show her true form to anyone is because nobody cares about the real her. It was obvious that her lack of self esteem was formed at an early age and it only got worse with time and the jerks she had dated.

Finally they got to her Hogwarts years. She made a few female friends in her first year. She had been sorted into Ravenclaw and became friends with two girls she said were Hannah Jones, Hestia's niece, and Martha Adler. They did pretty much everything together. Tonks did really well during school, while not at the top of her class; she never did poorly on anything. Harry did notice that Tonks never kept the same form for more than a year at a time, though he did not comment on it. She did get into a bit of mischief but nothing on the level that Harry had reached and she never got caught or punished either. Her life seemed to be pretty much average until her 6th year when she had her first boyfriend. Right before her 6th year started, she pulled Harry out of the pensieve for a bit of a break to grab some food and use the restroom.

After the fifteen minutes they dove back in. Tonks told him just before it started that he would see her first boyfriend, the one who started the rumors, in the first scene of the year. Sure enough while she was on the train a vaguely familiar person stepped into the train car and asked to sit down with her. When he introduced himself Harry almost fell over. His name was Sam Parker. It was the same arrogant asshole who sold him the fridge. He composed himself and brushed away Tonks' questions about what happened. He figured that if he was the one to cause Tonks so much trouble at school then he would have a chat with the twins and then pay him a visit. He wanted to reach out and strangle Sam while he watched him ruin Tonks reputation and shatter her self esteem to what appeared as an all time low. He would not stand by and let that act go without consequence, even if it was 7 years ago.

Tonks 7th year was packed with studying. She almost reminded him of Hermione with all of the books that she read. She claimed that she really doesn't like to read much but there was nothing else to occupy her time. Martha and Hannah had both gotten boyfriends over the summer and the three of them didn't spend nearly as much time together as they used to. She cut off the memories at the end of her 7th year and told Harry that there was no sense in starting out her next set of memories at the beginning of her 7th and that was why she just added it to end of the rest of her memories even though it overlapped his 1st year. He didn't really mind and was a bit surprised to see how he looked playing in that first quidditch match against Slytherin from somebody else's point of view.

"So you see my life was fairly boring in all reality. Nothing out of the ordinary happened except for Sam." She trailed off as she noticed Harry stiffen at the name. "What's wrong Harry?"

"Nothing Nym, just thinking about something."

"Nym?"

"Yeah. I figured that Tonks won't work for much longer since you won't be a Tonks' anymore. I know that you don't like your first name so I tried to come up with a variation. You don't mind do you?"

"No, I don't suppose I do. No one has ever called me that before. I kind of like it. Thank you, Harry." She said and leaned in to give him another kiss. She kept this one a bit longer than any of the previous and Harry didn't seem to mind. He stiffened for a fraction of a second when she didn't pull away but soon relaxed into the kiss.

Tonks pulled away after about ten seconds and opened her eyes. Harry still had his closed and his lips had turned up a bit at the ends. Figuring that it was enough of an incentive to proceed with her plan from earlier that day she leaned in again. This time Harry put his arms around her waist and Tonks put hers around his shoulders. There was nothing forced or unnatural about this kiss. They both got lost in the feelings of the other lips pressed against there own.

At some point Tonks felt the need to push a bit farther and continue to test out his reactions. So she slowly parted her lips and brushed her tongue against his lips. Harry nearly pulled away at first when he felt her tongue. He had never before kissed a woman like that. He was a bit nervous that his lack of experience would make this a disastrous event. Resigning himself to the fact that it would happen sooner or later and not really wanting to give up the incredible feeling of kissing Tonks, he slowly parted his lips as well and his tongue met hers.

Their tongues danced around each other for some time and they only pulled apart when the need for air became too much to withstand. Harry opened his eyes this time to see Tonks looking right at him. Both of them were breathing hard from the impromptu snogging session. Both of them were still flushed from the session and sat down side by side at the table. It was nearing dinner time and neither could believe that the memories and snogging could have taken a whole day.

Tonks was ecstatic. She had planned on kissing him, yes, but she hadn't planned on an all out snogging session yet. She was afraid it would scare him too much. 'Apparently I was wrong' She mused to herself with a smile. Realizing that they should probably get something to eat before bed she walked over and picked out their meal for the evening.

Harry for his part did not seem capable of coherent thought. He just kept mumbling things, but the small smile never left his face. They made small talk during dinner, neither mentioning the kisses, instead just sticking to discussing Tonks' memories. There really was very little to discuss about them because, as she had said, her life was pretty normal. The only thing that stood out was Sam and Harry had an idea about that.

Harry excused himself after dinner saying that he wanted to write a few letters. Tonks followed him over to the desks and told him she had one she wanted to write too. Harry wrote to the twins, Ginny, Hermione, and Mrs. Weasley, while Tonks wrote a letter to her mom.

_Ginny,_

I know that I did not get a chance to talk to you after everything with Tonks happened. I just wanted to make sure that you were OK. You seemed a bit better the next morning while Hermione was talking to you but I wanted to make sure for myself. So, how are you doing? I know that a lot has happened recently and it is a lot to take in. It is for me too. Just know that I do care, Gin. I love you too, it's just that I love you like a sister. You and Hermione are the sisters I never had. I hope that we can get past all of this and at least be on speaking terms again soon.

Hope to hear from you soon,  
Harry 

_  
Hermione,_

I'm not sure where you and I stand right now. You seemed to be in a the most rational state of mind out of all of my friends after the last meeting but we never got a chance to actually talk. So I guess the point of this letter is to see how you are doing and how you feel about my marriage. I hope that you will still be my friend after all of this. I just want you to understand that I am doing what is necessary and I have no regrets whatsoever.

Hope to hear from you soon,  
Harry 

_  
Mrs. Weasley,_

I know that it was always your dream for me to date and maybe even marry Ginny. I also realize that Ron is your son and I am nothing more than a friend of the family. What I am trying to say is that I understand if you do not support my decision to marry Tonks. You won't change my mind but I will still understand. I love your family as my own except for maybe Percy. Ron has always been my brother and hopefully after everything settles back down, we may be able to be friends again. The point is…I love you and all of your family and while I would really like to have your approval and support through this; I will not hold it against you if you chose not to.

Harry 

_  
Gred and Forge, or Forge and Gred,_

The letter I am sending you has two purposes. I will have to get through the first part for you to even consider the second. I think of you two as the brothers I never had, but I need to know where you stand on the situation with my marriage to Tonks. I hope that you guys will support me. It doesn't seem like anyone except Remus and her family does at this point. On to the second part of the letter, if you two do support me I have a business proposition for you. I need help to prank somebody that works in Diagon Alley. Tonks' first boyfriend was a real prick and he needs to learn a lesson. I would like to tell you more about it but I would rather do it in person. So if you are able to support me through this and wish to help me with some pranking, then send me an owl and I will meet you guys in your shop sometime soon.

Harry P 

Tonks had just finished sending off her letter to her mother inviting her over to go over wedding plans and had used Hedwig to send the letter. She apologized for not having her wait until he was finished with his but he just waved it off. He had written the letters and that was the hard part. He would send them tomorrow morning. So, with that the two of them settled into bed for the night.

"Goodnight Harry."

"G'night Nym."

Hedwig flew to the window and tapped her beak against the glass to wake up the two occupants of the room. Harry woke first and Tonks mumbled something like "five more minutes please. I'm having a good dream." Tonks was facing Harry in bed this morning and figured that the close contact was the reason for his severe case of 'morning wood.' That was until her felt Tonks legs entwined with his and her knee rubbing against his crotch.

"Tonks." He stuttered. "Tonks, I think you should wake up now. Tonks?" he was a little uncomfortable in this situation as he wasn't exactly sure what to do. He figured the best idea was to get Tonks to wake up first. He reached over and shook Tonks to get her attention. He couldn't just crawl out bed since he was stuck up against the wall now that the room was rearranged. He feared he would only make the situation worse by moving.

Shaking her had the desired effect and Tonks stirred. "What did you have to go and wake me up for? Harry and I were just get…………." She trailed off as her eyes shot open and she realized were she was. Harry couldn't help the semi-smug look that showed up on his face at hearing her argument against being woken up.

Tonks was having one of the best dreams of her life. She and Harry had started snogging again. This time however the snogging led to feeling and the feeling led to more pleasurable pursuits. She had never really had a wet dream before but this could definitely qualify as one. Needless to say she more than a bit upset when she heard the owl tapping at the window. No letter was worth interrupting her dream over. She turned back to Harry in her dream and they continued on but all of the sudden Harry started to shake her and telling her to wake up. She started to protest when she fully realized that she WAS in Harry's bed and had her legs in a very compromising position.

"I…..I…..uh…….I…….." she stammered blushing crimson. Harry decided to take pity on her since she had the day before with him. "Tonks, it's alright. It was definitely one of the better ways I have woken up in the morning, I must say. It also seemed to me as if you were enjoying yourself too.

It's like you said. We need to get used to these types of situations. Chances are there are going to be a lot more of them." He finished with a cheeky grin. Tonks returned the grin finally loosening up a bit. She was still more than a little embarrassed. After all Harry had grabbed her breast the day before but that is hardly equal to a wet dream and rubbing yourself against each other. She was still a bit wet from her dream and decided it was a good time to retreat to the restroom.

Tonks took a bit more time in the restroom that morning than she had before, Harry noticed. He decided it was best not to comment on it considering he had a good idea as to what she was doing in there. The same thing he would have been doing if he hadn't had to get out of bed to let Hedwig into the room.

Hedwig was more than a little annoyed at having to wait, but with a little attention from Harry and some treats, she was good as new. Harry asked her if she would mind delivering his letters now or if she wanted a break. She just stuck out her leg in response and Harry attached the letters. He told her to go to headquarters first as most of them would be there and then go to Fred and George's last.

Harry left the letter on the table and chose breakfast and had it all set out by the time Tonks returned. He motioned to the letter when she sat down and offered her a smile. He did not comment of the event of that morning and Tonks had no inclination to bring it to light either. Tonks read through her letter and had a giddy look on her face.

"My mom is coming over today. She is going to bring some magazines she bought and we are going to go through and look at dresses and bridesmaids gowns. It's gonna be sooooo much fun." She was practically jumping up and down. Harry had to smile looking at her so happy. Harry took off to go take his shower and left Tonks to get her stuff together for when her mother arrived.

They spent the morning lazing around and not really accomplishing anything. Tonks mother was supposed to be there five minutes ago but had not shown up. Harry guessed that Tonks may not have given very good directions. They had gone outside to wait for her to show up since they didn't want her ringing the doorbell and disturbing Aunt Petunia. Andromeda arrived ten minutes later.

They exchanged formal greeting and headed up to Harry's room where they were surprised to see Remus waiting for them. Remus told them that he wanted to borrow Harry for about two hours as he had some business to discuss with him. Neither one of the ladies seemed to mind and Harry was a bit relieved. He felt a bit better toward Andromeda after seeing how she treated Tonks growing up. It was apparent that even loving parents say some hurtful things sometimes. That still did not mean he completely trusted her. First impressions leave a lasting one.

Remus took Harry to Arabella's and floo'd them to Grimmauld Place. He promised Harry and Tonks that he wouldn't keep him long since he was needed there to replenish the blood wards.

"I made the arrangements for tomorrow night. It's at a restaurant called The Belvedere." Remus had a friend that works there and was able to squeeze them in to a last minute cancellation. "This is one of the more romantic restaurants in the London area. It is located Holland Park. You can take the underground and get off at Kensington station or you can take a cab. I will apparate over tomorrow afternoon and give you the ring. Make sure that she is not in your room at 5:30 exactly. I will drop it off and then get out. Your reservation is at 7:15. It is an all muggle restaurant and once you are in London it will take about 25 minutes to get their either way you decide. I suggest leaving here, and taking the knight bus to London so you don't get soot all over your clothes, at 6:30. That should guarantee you to be there on time."

"Thanks Remus. You have no idea how much this means. It is even in the perfect place. She grew up and used to spend some time in Holland Park. Thanks again Remus." Harry gave the old wolf a big hug.

"No problem cub. Now if memory serves the Weasley twins are waiting for you in the kitchen."

Harry went over to the kitchen and found not only the twins but all of the Weasley's minus Ron, and Hermione. They all told him how sorry they were about how they had reacted and that Ron would come around eventually.

Mrs. Weasley pulled him into a hug and kept apologizing for acting so childlike, Hermione came over and gave him another hug and told him that she would always support him and knew that he was doing what he thought was right. Ginny came up next and stood before him. She hesitated for a second and then gave him a hug too. "I'm happy as long as you're happy…..brother." She finished with a smile. There were still tears in her eyes but she seemed to accept the fact that he had made his choice and she would stand by him as long as he was happy.

Both Bill and Charlie remained in the background and nodded their approval to him. He had never really had a conversation with either of these two Weasleys before. He only really met them in passing. The twins were the last to come up and they both looked strangely serious, which unnerved him a bit. Once they saw that he was panicking they broke out in grins and started hitting him on the back and giving his congratulations.

The rest of the Weasleys filtered out of the kitchen as well as Hermione and the three of them got down to business. Harry explained the whole situation to them and then gave them his ideas. "Here is what I would like to do..."

Harry returned to Privet Drive shortly afterwards in a much better mood. He had made up with most of his friends and family, he had the dinner for the next day all set up, he would have the ring tomorrow, and he was going to exact revenge on Sam for Tonks.

Harry and Nym, she liked it when he called her that, talked about their days. Tonks had narrowed the field of dresses down to 25 and seemed quite proud of it. He couldn't imagine having to choose anything out of more than 2 or 3 choices much less 25. Harry had to give an abridged version of his day leaving out the plans for the next day and the plans for her ex-boyfriend. They kissed a bit more and enjoyed each other's company. Harry knew without a doubt that their relationship would change drastically the following day.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: The Proposal 

The next morning was a bit boring compared to the way they had woken up the last couple of days. Neither one of them was engaged in a compromising position for which they were both silently relieved. While neither really complained about the compromising situations they were still a tiny bit embarrassing as of yet.

Harry had to do his best to act nonchalant that day. He couldn't get Tonks suspicions raised. The whole idea is to surprise her and that is hardly something he could do if she started to ask a whole bunch of questions. They talked a bit more and went over some more memories to pass the time. However these memories were a long shot from the ones witnessed the day before.

Harry, in a show a maturity and trust, voluntarily showed Tonks some of his childhood memories. Specifically he showed her the memories of which were already mentioned during the argument in the kitchen. He showed her the fire poker incident and how he was locked in the cupboard with nothing to eat or drink for a full day before they let him out to go to the hospital. He showed her Dudley and his gang beating him up several times each year until he finally went to Hogwarts. She was impressed at the memory of Harry apparating to the roof of his school while being chased by the gang, for accidental magic apparating is quite a feat. Harry showed her being forced to watch all of the holidays and parties from his cupboard and never being given anything. The last memory he showed her was of the time when he accidentally called his aunt 'mum' and how she freaked out and yelled at him telling him never to call her that again.

Harry knew that it wasn't exactly setting up the mood very well for the evening to come but it was a way to kill a few hours and now was as good a time as any to get some of these memories out of the way.

Tonks came out of the pensieve fit to kill. The more she got to know about Harry the more and more she was amazed by him. She couldn't understand how his own family could treat a child that way. She had half a mind to break her promise to stay out of their way and go downstairs to hex them into oblivion.

Harry saw her anger, and while he felt it too and probably to a greater extent but he knew nothing good would come out of hexing his relatives. "Nym?"

"What?" she snapped coming out of the hatred filled trance she was in. When she realized it was Harry and the hurt look that flashed across his face she regretted not being in control of her emotions. He did nothing wrong and she should actually be comforting him considering the memories she had just witnessed.

"I'm sorry Harry. My anger isn't directed at you." She got up from her chair and walked over to Harry and pulled him out of his seat and into a hug.

"I'm so sorry Harry. No one should have to grow up like that. Dumbledore should have never allowed it to happen. He should have kept an eye out for you." Her voice was coming out a bit choked and Harry pulled back and saw tears lining her eyes.

"Why are you apologizing, Nym? You haven't done anything to hurt me. It was _them_." He said pulling her back into the hug.

"I just can't believe that Dumbledore would leave you with people like that. You can't force somebody to take in a child and expect them to care for the child like they should. It seems like the older he gets the more detached he becomes from normal human feelings."

"Nym, please don't do anything to the Dursley's or tell Dumbledore any of this. The Dursleys won't matter to me anymore after my birthday. After that day, I will never return here and they can pretend that I never existed. We can all be happy. As far as Dumbledore is concerned, I don't want his pity. He has apologized for the way he has treated me recently and his decision to leave me here. That doesn't mean that I have forgiven him though.

It is one thing to apologize for past mistakes and it is another to prove that you are sorry. We will see where it goes from here. I may never trust him again the way I used to, but like it or not, I will need his help in this war.

Enough of this depressing conversation. I think we should go out to dinner tonight." He finished with a small smile to Tonks.

"Dinner? Why not just eat something here. We already missed lunch. We could just have an early dinner. Maybe we could use the extra time to do something a bit more…….fun?" Her grin was almost feral and had Harry not been set on giving her the ring that night he would have jumped at the chance to do something more _fun._

"I thought we were trying to make this relationship as normal as possible. Don't normal couples go on dinner dates?"

"Don't normal couple snog each other senseless too?" She replied with the same grin.

"Merlin, Nym. We can always snog later on can't we. I doubt that dinner would take too long."

"Why are you so set to go to dinner? What is it that you are up to Mr. Potter?"

"Nothing Mrs. Potter. I just wanted to take you out to dinner. I thought it might be fun."

"Not Mrs. Potter….yet. Snogging can be fun too as you found out yesterday but then again going out to dinner would be nice too.

Did you have something specific in mind?"

"I asked Remus about some restaurant ideas in London and he gave me a few choices. We have a reservation for tonight and we need to leave here by 6:15. So that gives us about two hours to kill for now."

"And what would you have done with your reservation if I had not decided to go Mr. Potter? A little bit sure of yourself aren't you?"

"If I can't get my future wife to even go to dinner with me then there couldn't have been much hoping in me getting you down the aisle now would there."

"Then it's an awfully good thing that I would like to go to dinner with tonight. But since you decided to postpone a full night of snogging just to go eat we have nothing to do to keep us busy until then."

"I can think of something Nym."

"Is that so Mr. Potter? And what is it that you have in mind?"

"I think I would rather show you, it might be more…………fun." With that Harry latched his lips to Tonks' and they both lost their footing and ended up on the bed.

Neither of them paid much attention to the time which was really a bad thing. At exactly 5:30 Remus apparated into the room and was shocked at the scene before him. Tonks and Harry kissing each other passionately and Tonks' shirt was already half unbuttoned. He might have directly disapparated instead of interrupting but Harry had already made the plans for this evening. He was thankful that he had the presence of mind to not have the ring box in his hand when he disapparated just in case Tonks was still in the room when he arrived. He decided to clear his throat and get the couple's attention.

Tonks and Harry bolted out of the bed looking like deer caught in head lights. Tonks quickly turned her back to Remus to re-button the top three buttons, which she didn't even remember how they had gotten undone. She glanced over at Harry and saw that he looked about as red as she felt and knew that he was extremely embarrassed about being caught in that kind of a situation by one of the people that he considered to be his real family.

Remus was more amused than anything else. He tried his hardest to not show any amusement and act more the role of the disapproving father but it was a miserable failure. "Harry could I talk to you for a second? Alone."

"Um..sure thing Remus." He looked over at Tonks. She nodded in understanding.

"I'll just go get ready for dinner. Is there any type of dress code for this restaurant?"

"No. Dress nicely but comfortably Nym." She nodded and went through the wardrobe to get something to wear. She knew that she had to be somewhat quick in the shower since Harry would probably want to get cleaned up too.

"Nym? What is that all about?" Remus questioned as soon as Tonks left the room.

"I wanted something to call her other than Tonks that nobody else would call her. Not to mention that after my birthday she won't be a Tonks anymore. Now that I think about it we will need to come up with something for everyone else to call her after her name change." Harry didn't realize he was babbling. He was just glad that Remus appeared to glaze over the fact that he apparated into a room in which someone he considered a son was snogging a gorgeous older woman while rolling around on a SINGLE bed in the room that they both shared. Not to mention the three buttons that had ended up open on Tonks' blouse.

"Ah. That makes sense." He couldn't resist teasing Harry any longer and felt no need to restrain himself. "Now Harry before I give you this ring I have a few questions for you." He continued completely ignoring the horrified look on Harry's face when he realized where the questions were headed. 

"My first question as you can probably guess is why there is only one bed in the room? I noticed this yesterday but chose not to mention it but it seems like it might be something to be addressed now."

"Nym and I figured that if we were going to be getting married we may as well get used to sleeping in the same bed. That's all I swear." He was starting to have a mild panic attack.

"The next question I have is what did Andromeda say to Tonks yesterday when she only noticed one bed in the room?" If it was even possible Harry looked more panicked than before. He hadn't actually considered that and Tonks never brought it up but surely her mom noticed that all of her stuff was here and there was only one bed. Did she get the wrong impression?

"S-She never actually said anything or Nym at least didn't mention it."

"Now for the million pound question. What the hell was going on in here when I showed up?" He said in his best teacher/lecture voice.

"Tonks lost something on the bed and I was helping to look for it?" It was more of a question than a statement and Remus look told him he didn't buy it for a second.

"Um….Well… you see…..we started kissing and…."

Remus finally lost his composure and doubled over in laughter. Harry was thankful for the silencing charms that Nym placed on the room when she moved in. He couldn't believe that Remus would have him on like that. The more he thought about it the funnier it became and Harry himself starting chuckling a bit.

"Y-You know Harry that you are really lucky. I almost apparated with the box in my hand. What would you have done then?"

"I honestly lost track of time Remus. I had no idea it was already 5:30."

"This I can believe." Remus commented dryly. "What with your current extra curricular activities and such I would be surprised if you had missed dinner all together.

No matter now though. Here is the ring be sure to take it with you when you get ready. No doubt Tonks will be a bit bored now that I interrupted you two and you will be busy getting ready. I wouldn't put it past her to snoop around here a bit. Good luck with dinner and have fun." He finished with a wink and disapparated before Harry had a chance to comment.

They both finished getting ready and walked out of Number Four Privet Drive and found an empty alley. Tonks checked both ways and when she was sure there were no muggles in the area she held out her wand hand and the Knight Bus popped into existence. Harry was getting annoyed at the way Stan Shunpike was eyeing Tonks so he took a hold of her hand when they sat down.

Harry couldn't really blame Stan for staring. He had a hard time not staring at her too. She had chosen a short black summer dress for the evening. There was nothing fancy about it but the way she looked in it stunned him. The dress itself was extremely short, only going down to mid thigh. Her hot pink hair and light pink eyes standing out even more. Harry thought her appearance was an attempt to divert the blood flow of every man in Britain that evening. He mused for a few seconds as to where she could have possibly hidden her wand and that did nothing to help his blood flow problem. He felt a bit overdressed compared to her but he was still comfortable with his choice of clothing. He had chosen to wear loose fitting black slacks and a green silk dress shirt that he had bought in London a few days ago.

Tonks saw the way that Stan was staring at her. She knew that things like that would happen when she chose that dress. It was simple but she filled it out nicely. She was pleased when it had her desired effect, which was to make Harry somewhat possessive of her this evening. She was by no means a submissive person but she wanted everyone to know that she was with him and him with her.

The Knight Bus took only seven minutes to get into London since they were the only people aboard. They had about forty minutes to get to the restaurant so Harry hailed a cab and they both got in. The driver told them it would be about twenty-five minutes before they got there. Nodding that he heard the man Harry turned to Tonks.

"Nym? What exactly did you mum say about there only being one bed in the room?"

She gave him an odd look for his troubles but took pity on him. "She actually didn't mind. She knows that we are getting married and married couples sleep together. She did ask how well we had gotten to _know_ each other though.

I had to assure her that we didn't _know_ everything about each other yet, but other than that she seemed fairly understanding. I think it is because her and my father _knew everything_ about each other long before their marriage happened." She trailed off and seemed to be thinking of something."

"Oh Merlin, Oh Merlin." She sat up straight and wide eyed.

"What is Nym?" Harry was a bit worried at the sudden change in mood.

"I was only born 8 months after my parents got married. I was the reason they got married. Oh Merlin. I can't believe I never put the dates together before. She was pregnant with me when they got married."

"Nym, calm down. It doesn't really change anything does it?" Harry tried to comfort her. The last thing he needed was her panicked right before he tried to propose to her. He knew she wouldn't say no but that was beside the point.

"Your parents love each other and they love you. It doesn't really matter if you were conceived before they got married or not does it? It doesn't change their feelings or yours."

"Your right of course. It was just a bit of a shock. I wonder if that is why she thought I was pregnant when I told her we were getting married."

"Let's not worry about it right now. We are almost at the restaurant. There will be plenty of time to go over this stuff later on." They pulled up to restaurant not more than five seconds after he finished his comment.

"The Belvedere? This is when dad proposed to mum. They come here every year for their anniversary." Tonks exclaimed.

"Wow. Then we know it must be a good restaurant then." Harry responded while inwardly trying to keep the smile off his face. 'What are the odds that Remus would choose the same restaurant that Mr. Tonks proposed to his wife in?'

Harry asked the host if their table was ready yet.

"Of course, sir, right this way. They could not have asked for a better table. The ended out on the back dining area which overlooked the park. Since it was getting close to dark it was fairly cool outside and the park was clearing of the kids and making way for the more adult crowd.

After perusing the menu Tonks settled on the _Grilled lobster Box Tree, sauce mornay_ and Harry chose the _Confit of salmon fleur de sel- jus blond de canard_. To drink they both settled with water since Harry could not get any of the fine wine that they offered. Dinner took about an hour to arrive and Harry and Tonks passed the time away talking about things they wanted to do for their lives and avoiding subjects like Harry's memories.

The dinner turned out to be one of the best seafood meals either of them had ever had. The talking died down while they ate but the time passed quickly. At least it seemed quick to Harry. The waiter came back by to see if they wanted dessert to which they both responded they would have the Lemon Tart.

Harry took advantage of the lull in between dinner and dessert. He stood up from the table and walked over to Tonks' side. As he approached he took a deep breath to compose himself and to make sure he wouldn't sound like an idiot. He kneeled down on his right knee and took Tonks left hand in his right hand and with his left he pulled the ring out of his pocket, already out of the box.

"Nym, I know that our situation is rather unique but I remember promising myself and you that I would do everything in my power to make you happy. So, Nymphadora Anne Tonks, Will you marry me?"


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Official 

"Nym, I know that our situation is rather unique but I remember promising myself and you that I would do everything in my power to make you happy. So, Nymphadora Anne Tonks, Will you marry me?"

Tonks wasn't sure that she could respond. She was quite shocked that he was doing this. She had already agreed to marry him almost a week before but she never expected an actual ring or proposal from him. She figured that it would be a bit redundant and it wouldn't really be worth it for him to waste money on a ring that would only get used for less than a month.

Nevertheless here they were in a fancy London restaurant and he is on one knee proposing to her with an absolutely gorgeous ring. She must have been silent longer than he expected since he was beginning to look nervous. She struggled to find her voice only to throw her arms around him and plant several kisses right on his lips saying "yes" over and over in between kisses.

Harry pulled back slightly and took a hold of her hand again and placed the ring gently on her left hand ring finger. Tonks' right hand never left his shoulder. After the ring was securely in place Tonks got a closer look at the ring itself. She noticed that it was made of white gold and had a weaving design carved into the gold that came together where the diamond sat.

The diamond itself was the most beautiful part of the whole ring. The diamond was a light pink diamond that matched her eyes almost perfectly. Of course it wasn't her natural eye color but it was the color she most commonly chose to wear.

Harry noticed her studying the diamond. "I chose that diamond because it reminded me of your hair and eye color. It was almost a perfect match for your eyes that morning that we agreed to get married. I hope that you like it." He looked a bit nervous and Tonks wasn't sure why. He had just proposed to her and she had accepted and NOW he was nervous.

"Harry, I love it. It is the most beautiful ring I have ever seen." Harry smiled at the comment but still seemed decidedly nervous and he seemed to not be able to find a good place to focus his eyes.

"Harry what's wrong? Why are you so nervous now?" She asked

"Nym, I…Well…." His eyes kept darting around.

"What?"

"If you must know, with your hand on my shoulder and not letting me stand up, I can kind of see….."

"See what?" She was starting to get exasperated that he couldn't string a sentence together.

"Damn it Nym. I can see up your dress and it is a bit hard to feel comfortable down here without being tempted to keep looking." He finished in a whisper.

Tonks mouth opened in an 'O' shape and she blushed brighter than after her dream with Harry. No wonder he couldn't settle his eyes on anything. She immediately removed her hand and let him sit back down in his chair.

They were saved from the awkward moment by the waiter showing up with their Lemon tart dessert. Tonks hardly ate any of her dessert and kept looking at the ring and Harry with a smile on her face. Regardless of the dress issue that night was the single most romantic night of her life. She planned on thanking Harry appropriately when the returned to Privet Drive.

She couldn't wait to show her mother the ring. She knew only a few details about diamonds but she did know that pink diamonds are some of the rarest diamonds to find and that makes them very expensive. She was thrilled that Harry had spent so much money and put so much thought into the ring, and that dinner, even though they would only be engaged for another twenty days.

Harry paid the bill and took Tonks' hand and had the host call for a cab. The cab rolled up to restaurant ten minutes later and Harry gave him directions to the Leaky Cauldron. Neither of them said anything on the way back but they shared perhaps their most romantic moments together. As soon as they were in the cab Tonks leaned up against Harry and rested her head on his shoulder. They both had smiles on their faces the entire way to the Leaky Cauldron.

Tonks hailed the Knight Bus once again, after the cab was out of range and made a point to grab Harry's left hand with her right and bring her left hand around to rest on his arm while her head stayed in the same place, on his shoulder. They heard Stan mumbling about 'Lucky Neville Longbottom' as they passed. Harry couldn't help the chuckle on this and Tonks wasn't sure what was going on and what Neville had done to Stan.

Harry humored her and told her about his first time riding the Knight Bus. He was thankful that his scar had stayed hidden both on the trip over and the trip back. It held up his story from third year. Tonks laughed at the story and commented something about showing him just how lucky 'Neville Longbottom' really was when they got back.

Harry couldn't help but marvel at Tonks ability to embarrass Harry. It didn't matter if they were by themselves or in public, she could embarrass him like no other. He found himself wishing that they had gone to a Wizarding restaurant so that he could have worn robes and be able to hide his rather obvious reaction to Tonks' statement.

Tonks for her part had to use her abilities to keep the blush off of her face when she felt Harry's 'excitement' poking into her arm before he shifted slightly. She tried to act like nothing at all had happened and kept the same smile on her face while staring forward and holding on to Harry so she wouldn't be thrown across the bus by the crazy driving.

Somehow for the second time that day they had ended up being the only people aboard the Knight Bus. Harry asked Stan about it as they were disembarking the bus.

"Everyone is afraid to go out after dark. 'Ou-know-'oo used to attack after dark."

Harry nodded that he understood and he and Tonks walked back from the park to Number Four Privet Drive. Tonks had not let go of his arm since they had left the restaurant and nothing changed upon arriving back at his relatives' house. All of the lights were out in the house and Harry figured that they had gone out to dinner. His relatives had taken to doing that a lot lately since they couldn't force Harry to cook and Aunt Petunia could only make microwavable meals.

Once they got into his room and closed the door Tonks took out her wand. She waved it in a complicated pattern and mumbled a few words at the end and a blue light shot out of her wand and covered the whole room before disappearing into the walls. Then she muttered something else that Harry vaguely recalled as an advanced locking charm.

"What was the first one?"

"That was a temporary anti-apparition ward. They only last for about 4 hours. They are mainly used by Aurors to stop people from fleeing after they lose a battle. That should take care of any mishaps like, Remus, from earlier.

Now, I think I said something about showing you how much I liked the ring once we got here." With that Tonks stepped forward and pulled Harry into the most sensual kiss of his entire life. Nothing he and Tonks had shared to that point came close to this. There was nothing hurried or lustful about it. It was more about two people that truly cared about the other's happiness. Love? No, not love. It was still too soon for that but he was definitely starting to care about Nymphadora Tonks and he was sure that she was feeling the same way about him.

For the first time since the arrangement had been made, both parties were truly content with the situation and had no doubt that this would work out in the end.

Neither one of them cared about the time and nothing more than kissing happened. At some point the both came to stop and decided to lie down. Harry chose to lie down behind Tonks and placed his arm around her stomach. She reached over with her hand and pulled his arm more securely around her and then held on to his hand. They fell asleep for this first time in each others arms.

1 Week Later

Quite a bit had happened over the last week Harry mused. It was Friday night and Tonks was already asleep. Ever since that night Harry had lain behind Tonks and held her as they slept. Their relationship had progressed slightly. The changes were more on the emotional side than on the physical side. There was not much more they could do on the physical side of the relationship. They both agreed that they weren't ready to go past kissing yet. The kissing had led to a little bit of feeling but they were both still too inexperienced and not in a huge hurry to jump the next hurdle.

The day after the proposal Tonks insisted on inviting her mom and Remus over. She wanted to show off her ring more than anything and it was hard to do being locked up in that room most of the time. Remus had respectfully declined claiming that he had been there when Harry picked it out and couldn't get away from the Order just then anyways. Harry new that Remus was unsure how to act in these situations and had copped out because of it.

Her mother had stopped by for a few hours that morning and Tonks was proudly displaying the ring for her. After she got over her initial excitement she decided to ask her mom about her revelation the previous night.

"Mum? Why was I born only eight months after you and daddy got married? Was I the reason you got married?"

"No, honey, you weren't the reason we got married. Actually your father and I were expecting to have this conversation a long time ago. You see I was disowned, as you know, from my family as soon as I was engaged to your father. I had no where to go after that and he allowed me to move in with him.

We were planning on getting married on November 12, 1973. Around the end of August that year I started to get really sick. It took almost a week before we figured out what it was. Since the only reason we had chosen to get married in November was because that is when I could get the time off from my job to go on the Honeymoon, we decided to get married right away and take the Honeymoon at the planned time. Neither one of us wanted me to be three months into my pregnancy by the time we got married just to be able to go on the honeymoon right afterwards.

So we got married, as you know, on September 23, 1973 and you were born May 23, 1974. So the answer, as I said, is 'No, you were not the reason we got married'. You were, however, the reason we got married two months earlier than planned." She said with a smile.

Harry who was holding Tonks hand throughout the whole thing realized that she was really nervous that her parents only married because of her and maybe they didn't really love each other. He felt her relax as her mother explained the situation to her and she was smiling too at the end. Andromeda took her leave shortly after that and Harry felt like he had a better understanding of her earlier outburst.

They killed the rest of the day going over Tonks' memories of her Auror training as well as her work with the Order the previous year. Harry was shocked at the amount of training that Aurors had to go through. He was amazed at the shear number of hexes and curses that they learned and asked Tonks to demonstrate a few for him so he could learn then even if he couldn't practice them. He wasn't really all that impressed with what he saw of the Order. He and his friends had pieced together pretty much the same information they had only it had taken them slightly longer.

Apparently Harry was Tonks' fourth 'boyfriend.' He wasn't sure if he could actually be considered that or not since they never actually dated. He was appalled at the way her other boyfriends had acted. In the four years since she graduated Hogwarts her three relationships had only taken up about five weeks of that time. He couldn't understand why people wanted her to change and he told Tonks as much. This comment, of course, led to another heavy snogging session.

On the third day Harry showed Tonks his memories at Hogwarts. He showed her his first four years and left the fifth for later. He could still remember her reaction as they came out of the pensieve.

"Merlin, Harry. What haven't you done yet?"

"I haven't snogged a girl in a broom closet yet, or an empty classroom, or even the astronomy tower for that matter."

"And you had better not. Unless I show up for a visit."

"Not to worry, Nym, not to worry. I don't want to snog anyone except you."

"That's good Mr. Potter. I would hate to have to use some of my Auror level spells on you. Seriously though I can't believe everything that has happened there so far.

I know that most of the parents would pull their kids out of Hogwarts if they knew half of what had gone on in that school. It is supposed to be one of the safest places in the world and yet you have ended up against Voldemort or at least a death eater there for three out of the five years. The basilisk was awesome by the way. What was the deal with the sword?"

Harry went on the explain everything she had seen in detail. By the end she was crying again and hugging him as if there was no tomorrow. He didn't quite know how to handle the extreme emotional changes that women seem accustomed to displaying. He knew the rebirth of Voldemort would terrify her too and it did. Nobody outside of a few people at the ministry, Dumbledore, and Harry had ever seen what Voldemort actually looked like. Everyone else that has met him has either served him or died.

Tonks changed the subject after they had lunch. She had a feeling that Harry really didn't like to talk about what happened and only showed the memories to satisfy her. So she decided to go on to something a bit more light-hearted. She teased him about his abysmal dancing skills and told him that he had a lot of work to do if he wanted to dance with her on their wedding day. Wedding or not, she would not dance with him if he was going to ruin her good shoes. He took the teasing good-naturedly and they decided to start work on dance lessons the next weekend.

Just before bed Harry decided to drop the final bomb, which very well could change Tonks' mind about marrying him. He showed her his fifth year at Hogwarts and the prophecy along with it. He couldn't in good conscience marry her without her knowing the truth and being given the option to back out.

She took it in stride, which shocked him, like everything else. She told him that it didn't take a genius to figure out that Voldemort wanted him dead for some reason. It would be impossible to keep him away from the war but she never expected any different. Both of them would fight in this war and both of them would get hurt. The only thing she prayed for was that no matter how hurt they got that they would live to see the end of it.

She informed him that as soon as the wedding was over with and she got a chance to she was going to go after Delores Umbridge. Harry had not known that the blood quill was illegal. He didn't think that they would be allowed as school punishment but he didn't know they were illegal. She had actually pulled her wand on 'memory' Umbridge when she threatened him with the cruciatus and told him it was her who had set the dementors against him. Then she realized that it wouldn't do any good against the memory version.

She didn't comment on Harry's use of the cruciatus against Bellatrix since it did not work and she knew he was not in a proper state of mind. She didn't want to bring it up for nothing to come from it.

That night when they were both in bed, they had shifted since they had fallen asleep the first time, Tonks held on to Harry and started speaking to him even though he was asleep. What Tonks didn't know is that he woke up to her voice and heard most of what she had said. She used the chance with him 'asleep' in her arms to voice her thoughts about him. She would never truly understand how someone that had been through everything he had could still care about other people. He loved his friends and she hoped that someday he would make up with Ron. She must have talked for a good hour before succumbing to sleep once again and Harry never once made any move to let her know he was awake.

Harry was glad that he and Ron had finally made up but knew he couldn't make any changes to the wedding plans because of it.

Remus had come over the previous afternoon at Harry's request. Harry was loosing his mind as his fiancé and future mother-in-law bombarded him with different magazines and clippings. All he caught were a few words about dresses, colors, and patterns. He had no idea what the hell was going on and desperately want someone to talk to about 'normal' things.

Shortly after Remus arrived, Tonks dragged Harry into a conversation he had to participate in.

"Harry, who is going to be your best man?"

"That is a good question." He looked deep in thought for a moment and then a huge smile broke out onto his face as he turned to Remus. "Remus? Would you like to be my best man?"

"I'm old enough to be your father Harry. Wouldn't you rather have someone your own age?" 

"The only person that I could truly call my friend that is my age is Ron, but you know what happened with that. I know some other people and get along with them but they aren't really what you would consider for a best man. I've known you for three years. You're the closest thing to a father I have and the best 'guy' friend that I have right now. Please consider it Remus."

Remus seemed like he was going to decline and then assumed the same, deep in thought, look that Harry had only minutes before. He finally relented and agreed to be Harry's best man. The next order of business was the maid of honor.

Tonks didn't really have any friends outside the order. Her two friends from school were invited to the wedding but she hadn't seen them since graduation. She got along with Hestia Jones alright, but that would create complications since Hestia's niece was one of her friends. Her mother was also an option but it would be weird for your mother to act as your matron of honor. The only other options were: Mrs. Weasley, not likely, Ginny, or Hermione. She got along great with Hermione and Ginny and the two of them really hit it off at headquarters last year. The problem with Ginny would be the awkwardness of the situation due to her infatuation with Harry. Hermione seemed like the best choice and was agreed upon be everyone.

Just after they woke up the next morning Harry received a rather lengthy message from Ron. Well lengthy for Ron at least.

_Harry,_

Mate, I hope I can still call you that; I wanted to apologize for the way I acted after your announcement. Hermione has been yelling at me non-stop since then and even Ginny has started to help recently. After listening to the whole thing in their words it made everything seem clearer. I was being a prat about something that I had no right to be a prat about. I mean, if Ginny can get passed it then why couldn't I?. I still stick by the fact that the two of you would have been good together but I also know that when you decide to do something that there is no changing your mind. So I just wanted to say I was sorry and hope that you can forgive me. I've got to go for now. Mum just finished making dinner.

Ron

He thought about the note until Tonks was done in the shower trying to decide whether or not to forgive him. In the end there really was no choice. He knew Ron well enough to know that Ron would say things that would make him angry and likewise he would make Ron angry sometimes too. He wasn't sure they would ever be the same as they were before fourth year though. Ron was his best friend in the world, well him and Hermione, and he would forgive him. He just wished that Ron would let go of his jealousy. He never wanted ninety percent of the things that happened to him nor did he really care about the money he had. He just wanted his friends and family. That was his main reason for forgiving Ron.

He sent off a letter, after breakfast was over, with Pig. He knew that with the tiny owl it would not reach Grimmauld Place until that night. He had yet to hear back from Ron but he didn't really expect to since he would have just received the letter an hour or so ago.

He turned on his side and tightened his grip on Tonks and positioned himself in a comfortable position. Then he leaned forward and kissed the back of her head. He thought he felt her squeeze his hand but he couldn't be sure and fell into a good night's sleep.


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Wedding Plans and More. 

"Young Mr. Malfoy, I must say that for having a talented father and mother I am most disappointed in the way that you have turned out." Voldemort hissed. "Were it not for the fact that, in lieu of your father's imprisonment, that you are the only way I can continue with my source of income I assure you that you would be dead. I have no place for worthless wizards in my ranks. Now, what is it that you have come to tell your lord?"

"My lord. After Aunt Bella killed the blood traitor Black, I am set to inherit the Black fortune soon."

"And how is that? I seriously doubt that he would have left everything to you."

"He left everything to Potter, my lord. But mother and I were able to contest the will due to 'The Purity Laws'. He cannot inherit the money so Black's will is forfeit and I will be named the next head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black."

"You may prove useful yet. I do not wish to see you in my presence anymore than is necessary. Come to me once the inheritance is complete and you have the money." Voldemort smile cruelly. "And just in case you have lied to me today I wish you to see what your future entails. _Crucio_."

Harry and Tonks had just finished breakfast the next morning. It was Saturday and thus it was time to start Harry's dance lessons. It was the twentieth of July and he had ten days to learn.

"I'm not going to go all out on these lessons. There will be plenty of time to go over specifics later on. For now we will concentrate on simple slow dancing. That will be enough to get you through the wedding."

"Let's just get this over with."

"First put your hands on my waist." He tentatively complied and she wrapped her hand around his shoulders.

"That wasn't so hard now was it?" She teased. "Now just simply take small steps to left and go in small circles with me. I know that this is really cheating and a lame form of dancing but we don't have- OWWWW!"

"Sorry. I need to watch my feet more carefully." He said with a sheepish grin. He didn't dare tell her that he was too distracted be how close his hands were to her arse.

"'s all right. As is was saying, we don't have enough time to teach you to truly dance and even then I am not the greatest at it either. So this will do for now. Watch the hands Harry. Just because you can grab there when we snog doesn't mean that you can all of the time." She mock glared at him. "It's hardly fair unless I can return the favor." She finished with a grin and moved her hands from around his neck and well……returned the favor.

The dance lessons were largely ineffective that day considering it turned into mostly mild groping and kissing. Sunday was more productive and Harry was able to finally go for an hour or so without stepping on her feet. Tonks decided she wanted a real life test instead of just dancing around his old bedroom the whole day. She told him that she knew a place in London that had a dance floor and that it could be their second date. She made the reservations for Monday evening and figured that before they went they could get her wedding ring resized so it stopped sliding around on her finger.

Ron was sitting in his room trying to figure out how he would apologize to Tonks. Harry said in his letter that he would accept his apology if, and only if, he genuinely apologized to her. He knew that he would have to do it but he wasn't sure how to. He was never that great at apologizing. He was also amazed at how protective Harry was of Tonks now. He figured that he would think better if he had a full stomach and headed downstairs.

He walked into the kitchen to see the twins sitting at the table going over a piece of parchment.

"What are you guys up to now? And why aren't you at work?"

Sliding the parchment under his plate, Fred replied. "Well little bro, It seems that our generous benefactor has a small side job that he needs done. He is compensating us for time away from the store. As to what we are doing, well…..good luck finding out." Fred and George stood up and took their plates to the sink and Fred then hid the parchment in his pocket and they floo'd away.

"I guess I should be used to them by now. MUM! Where's the food?"

Monday rolled around with Harry and Tonks are drilling over Harry's defense books.

"All we ever did in her class was read from this book. I think I memorized the whole thing."

"Well we have already gone over all of the material in years 1-5 of DADA. What do you want to work on next? We can do Charms, Transfiguration, or Advanced DADA."

"I'd like to go through Charms next and then Transfiguration. After all of that then we can work on the advanced material."

"Sounds like a plan, Hon."

He pretended to not notice the use of the nickname she chose for him. She had a much harder time trying to find a real nickname and not just a cliché one since you can't really shorten Harry to anything.

"Are you sure you don't mind tutoring me Nym? There must be other things you want to do with your time."

"Harry for the last time I DO NOT mind helping you. I have sort of a vested interest in keeping you alive." She smirked. "Besides, the whole idea of me moving in here for the month was to get to know you better. This is time that we are spending together and I am getting to know more about you and your study habits."

"I know Nym. It's just that I feel guilty that all we seem to do when we get bored, other than snog, is reviewing my schoolwork."

"Then make it up to me tonight."

"Sure thing."

Harry was starting to get confused. He knew that he really liked Tonks……a lot. What he didn't know is if it was just lust or perhaps something else. He had grown up only knowing hate and pain. Throughout his years at Hogwarts and during his time with Tonks he had learned more about happiness, sadness, anger, rage, and depression.

He felt happiness around Tonks but none of the other emotions yet there was also some feeling that he couldn't identify. He didn't think it was love since they had only known each other a short time. The best he could come up with is that it is somewhere past friendship but not yet love either.

Tonks was thinking along the same lines as Harry. She had grown up in a loving family and even though they were not many, she had friends too. Even though they had grown up in such opposite conditions, Tonks was unable to pinpoint the emotion she felt either. All she could do was hope that at some point it would become clear.

Tonks shifted into a younger version of her standard form for the night. She didn't want to get arrested in the muggle world for being with someone that is legally 'too young' for her. She chose to wear a red evening gown that flowed down to her ankles. It had a slit up the side to mid-thigh and was cut low in the back exposing a lot of her flesh and a simple pair of red high heels. She wore her hair in a violet color and her eyes were still pink. The hair and the dress clashed slightly but it would do. There was no 'cool' hair color that would go with a red dress and she didn't feel like being plain.

Harry was dressed in all black that night. He had chosen a simple pair of black slacks and a button up black dress shirt. He also wore some new black dress shoes. They weren't the most comfortable and he hoped they didn't make him lose his footing. He almost choked on his tongue when he saw his date for the evening.

"Ready to go Hon?"

"As ready as I can be."

They took a cab again once they were in London and went straight to small mall that he had bought her ring at. They had it resized and were back into the cab in twenty minutes but this time it was Tonks giving directions. Needless to say, Harry was a little surprised when they pulled up at a dock.

"What is this place Nym?"

"I never said the place was a real restaurant. You just took it upon yourself to assume so. This is a dinner cruise. Martha told me in seventh year about how one of her boyfriends over the summer took her on one of these cruises. The boat is perhaps the ugliest boat I have ever seen but they are supposed to have good food and the dance floor. The cruise goes up the Thames River and lasts for about two and a half hours. Come on. It should be fun."

"Whatever you say Nym."

After dinner they walked out to the open section of the boat where the dance floor was. There were two couples already dancing and looking very relaxed. Harry and Nym took their place on the floor with Harry settling his hands around her waist and Tonks with hers around his neck. Harry pulled her closer to him than he ever had before while they were dancing and Tonks responded by laying her head against his chest. 

They had been dancing that way for over an hour with no mistakes on either one of their parts. It was approaching the time that the boat would return but they continued to dance anyways.

Harry's hands had started rubbing the bare skin that he found on Tonks back. He couldn't believe how soft her skin was. He had never gotten a chance to touch her bare skin before now and he couldn't get enough of the feeling. Tonks was trying to suppress a groan at the sensations running through her as his hands continued their exploration. During his ministrations Tonks had wrapped her arms around him under his arms with her hands curving up to rest on his shoulders.

As Harry continued to rub up and down her back he realized that he hadn't kissed her all evening. This was something new and yet he found he didn't mind. Just then, for the first time since the Department of Mysteries, his scar seared with pain and he let out a strangled gasp as he fell into Voldemort's mind.

"I am growing impatient Bella."

"I'm sorry my lord. I am trying to persuade the dementors but it is more difficult than I thought."

"You are not here to think, Bella. You are to do as you are told. I want to attack Potter before he leaves for that stupid school and I cannot do it with so few followers. Get the dem…….Enjoying the view Potter? I should congratulate you on entering my mind without my detecting it immediately but for now I have business to attend to. See you soon Harry."

"Harry wake up. Wake up please. Come on already."

"What's the rush Nym? I was never asleep."

"Then what the hell just happened?"

"Where am I?"

"You're still on the boat. I had to get somebody to help drag you off the floor and into this side room."

"Oh. In answer to your first question I was in Voldemort's mind. He didn't take to well to my snooping around and rather forcefully kicked me out."

"Are you alright? What did you see? Why is your scar bleeding? What…." 

"NYM! Calm down. This isn't the first time this has happened. It has definitely been a while but it is not the first time. You saw in the pensieve that it has happened.

As for what I saw, I saw Voldemort. He was very angry at Bellatrix about not turning the dementors to his side yet."

"Is that it? Dumbledore knows they are trying to go after the dementors. It will be easier for him than storming the prison."

"Well, there was one other thing he mentioned. He seems to want to pay me a visit soon."

"WHAT?"

"It's not unexpected Nym. You said so yourself after seeing my memories. He will always be after me."

"Yeah but…Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure. We should probably tell Dumbledore about this. It has been a long time since he has been angry enough to open the connection between us. Sorry for ruing the evening."

"Stop it Harry." She said while grabbing him into a hug. She had tears lining her eyes but they didn't fall. She still couldn't understand why he blamed himself for everything. She resolved to work on that after the wedding. "Not everything that happens is your fault. I think it is late enough as it is and we should just head back to Privet Drive. I'll send a letter to the Headmaster once we get there and see when he wants to talk about it.

Dumbledore responded to Tonks' letter later that night. She had to wonder whether the man ever truly slept or not. Harry was fast asleep with a small bandage over his scar. He claimed that this was the first time that it had ever bled and it worried her as to why it would start now. Dumbledore seemed mildly concerned but didn't think it required immediate reaction unless it happened again. He told them to be present at Headquarters on Saturday afternoon for lunch and they would discuss it then.

She sighed and folded the letter and left it on the desk. There was hardly any empty space left on the desk after all of the wedding stuff was laid out. She didn't really care if Harry saw her change now or not. There weren't very many secrets between them anymore and they had already explored each other quite extensively, through clothing. So she didn't bother to go to the restroom to change. She got dressed for bed and climbed in. This time she was the one with her arm around him.

She didn't fall asleep for quite sometime and more or less just watched him sleep. Since he wasn't having nightmares anymore he looked very calm as he slept. He actually looked his age. She had plans to help him out a lot more once he was able to do magic and get away from these awful muggles.

She never told him but she had been in contact with her mum and was having her do some investigating for her. She wanted to help Harry with his training, magical and physical but his malnourishment growing up had stunted his growth. He was about four inches shorter than he should be. Fully grown he should have been around six feet. Her mother looked it up and almost all of the Potter males has similar builds and looks. With that knowledge in mind she sent her mother off to look for potions that would correct malnourishment.

Her mother had owled her just before they left and told her that there were potions that would correct it but it was a long process that involved eating correctly and physical exercise to make it work to its full potential.

Once he was able to get moved into Grimmauld Place she would make sure to help him in every way she could. Until then all she could do was help guide him along.

Harry didn't see much of Tonks the next two days. He spent the majority of his time at Grimmauld Place with Remus and the twins. Tonks was busy with her mother and the wedding planning. He hadn't seen Hermione and Ginny except at meal times and they were always whispering to each other. Ron made himself scarce after his first encounter with Harry in which Harry told him that he would accept his apology and talk to him again only after he apologized to Tonks.

He went with the twins and had a quick meal and a meeting with Angelina and Alicia, his former quidditch teammates, to discuss the execution of their plan against Sam. He was a tiny bit nervous that the twins seem to have left him to discuss the plans with their girlfriends while they were in their own corner looking at something written on a piece of parchment.

The meeting with the girls went well and Wednesday would be the day for the prank. He wanted to talk some more to Remus when they got back but the twins got to him first and monopolized his time. He only got to talk to him for ten minutes before he had to return to Privet Drive.

Wednesday morning Harry exited as Andromeda entered and was back at Grimmauld Place. He met the twins and the three of the floo'd to Angelina flat where they would meet up with the girls. None of them saw the person in the shadows watch them leave before apparating away.

The twins had been tailing Sam over the last week and noticed that he seemed to take his lunch break at 12:15 everyday. He seemed to alternate between eating at the Leaky Cauldron and The Black Cat, a small pub that was similar to the Leaky Cauldron just not as well known. Everyday he seemed to meet a different girl for lunch. Today he was supposed to be at the Leaky Cauldron. The five conspirators arrived fifteen minutes early and took a booth near a table for two that they were hoping would be chosen by the womanizer and his newest conquest.

At exactly 12:15 he walked in with a woman that looked to be in her mid twenties. She had shoulder length black hair and blue eyes. Sam looked around for a booth and noticed Harry sitting there with his friends. In an attempt to impress his date and hopefully get into her knickers he approached Harry and greeted him as if he had know him his whole life.

"Hi Mr. Potter. It's so good to see you again. How are the appliances doing?" Sam asked

"They're doing fine…um…Sam is it?" Harry was trying to be polite. He didn't want this to sound forced or the idea may not work.

Sam beamed. "That's right Mr. Potter. And this is Hannah."

"Nice to meet you Hannah."

"Nice to meet you too Mr. Potter." She blushed.

"Do you mind if we take this seat?" Sam asked gesturing to the empty table next to where they were sitting.

"Go right ahead."

"I'm going to order lunch and then go to the restroom real quick. Do you want the usual, love?" Sam asked turning to Hannah.

"That would be great." He turned and went to the bar. As soon she looked back she saw Harry standing next to her and then he dropped something down on the table in front of her.

"What's this?"

"Open it and see." Was the response she got.

When she opened up the packet she saw it was full of Wizarding pictures. Fred and George had taken pictures of Sam and all of the girls he had been with and some of the things they did….to each other.

She gasped. "Where did you get these? Why did you give them to me?"

"Short answer, after I met Sam I found out that he has a history of being a womanizer and a complete arse to the women he dates. The reason I found out is because he dated one of my best friends for a period of time." He couldn't very well tell her that it was his fiancé. The last thing he needed was more publicity right not and he also didn't want to draw any unwanted attention from Voldemort or the Malfoys. "I am planning on showing women just what he is about in the hopes that it will shatter his reputation and stop him from hurting anybody else the way he hurt my friend. As far as where I got them, he is very predictable in his eating habits and these are the women he has been with in the last week."

"Why did you give them to me?" She didn't seem sad at all. She looked more pissed off than anything.

"I needed a woman that he was dating to see what he is doing and hopefully contact the other women we have pictures of and let them know. It will mean more if it is coming from someone who was used by him. The names and addresses of each woman are on the back of the pictures."

"Is that all or did you need something else?" She smiled at Harry flirtatiously. Had it been the Harry from a month ago he would have blushed and stammered. Now he just smiled at her and told her what he needed her to do.

"Where is Hannah?" Sam asked when he came back.

"She said that she received an emergency summons from Gringotts and wouldn't be back." Fred told him. Fred and George had set next to each other and Harry across from the two girls. They wanted to make it appear the two girls were single.

"What about Mr. Potter?" he asked eagerly. "I have so many questions to ask him."

"He had to leave too, unfortunately. You are more than welcome to join our table for lunch." George quipped in.

"I think I will. Thank you." He smiled and looked over at Angelina and Alicia who were giving him suggestive smiles. He decided to sit next to them.

"We will be right back. Fred and I have to have a word with Tom." George said as he and his twin exited the booth and walked over to the bar.

"How are you two fine young ladies doing today?

"Great now that you're here." Angelina purred.

"We have seen you around here and there and have always wanted to….talk…to you." Alicia added.

"And what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" He grinned lecherously at both ladies.

"I would rather show you. Don't you think that would be better? We have a room here at the pub. Why don't you come up after lunch and meet us in room three. We need to freshen up." They stood to leave just as Fred and George came back.

"Where are they going?" Fred asked

"They said something about wanting some time alone. No offence meant to the two of you or nothing but I don't want people to get the wrong idea by seeing three guys eating lunch together. I think I will head up and see if a friend of mine is in his room upstairs." Sam said getting up. He didn't make it very far. An invisible hand smacked him hard across the face. He looked up trying to see what hit him when the form of his date slowly materialized in front of him after removing the disillusionment charm.

"You are an absolute hippogriff's arse. I can't believe I even went on one date with you much less dated you for two years. I give you two years of my life and you go and sleep with anything that has two legs….."

Her rant went on for the better part of ten minutes and Sam just sat there stunned. He caught the last part though. "…The only reason I am not REALLY angry with you is because I have been cheating on you too. I always had my suspicions but now I know. Just wait till I tell all of your other 'woman friends' about this." She stormed out of the pub and Sam went slowly after her while massaging his cheek.

Harry appeared from under his invisibility cloak and grinned at the twins and thanked them for their support. He also told them to thank Angelina and Alicia since he had to return to Privet Drive and meet with Tonks. He was glad that the first part of the plan had worked. Now all they had to do was wait for Hannah to spread the news to the other girls and the twins were going to go set up all sorts of immature pranks at Sam's flat. After he walked in his hair would turn Pink and he would grow women's breasts. Basically he would turn into the women he wanted Tonks to change into and he wouldn't be able to change it back for at least a week.

"Remus, what the hell are you doing here?" Harry asked surprising the marauder, who was sitting on Harry's bed talking to Tonks. Tonks seemed to be trying to control her laughter about something and was sitting at the table next to her mum. Her mother just shook her head in an amused fashion.

"I was just here to pass on some information about a prank. I need to be back a headquarters now so I'll just be going." He disapparated on the spot.

"Harry dear. We have some work to do." Tonks said is a sugary voice to which Harry groaned in response. He spent the rest of the day going over the plans that required his input too.

The rest of the week was spent going over Harry's Charms and Transfiguration schoolwork. He had completely redone the first five years in those two and DADA. He figured that if they kept up at that pace he would master all of the coursework for the full seven years by the end of the summer.

It was now Saturday and they were preparing for the Order meeting. They had just arrived at Grimmauld Place and were in the sitting room waiting for everyone else to arrive. He saw a few people he knew but none of his friends. This didn't really bother him. He knew that they were not going to be allowed in the meeting and he figured that after he gave his information to Dumbledore that he would be sent to spend the afternoon with them.

At 12:30 everyone had finally arrived. They went into the kitchen and sat side by side. Dumbledore asked Harry to recount the events on the boat from his point of view and then had Tonks do the same. Then he surprised everyone including Harry with his next question.

"We will keep this in mind and I will try to find someway to teach you Occlumency. Now that that situation is out of the way I have a question to ask." He turned and looked directly at Harry. "Do you wish to join the Order of the Phoenix?"

Cries of outrage and shock were sent through the room and Harry sat there stunned.

"He's too young Albus."

"The war should be left to the adults."

"Another thing to inflate his ego." Were some of the comments he was able to hear around the room.

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore shouted. "This is not open for debate. I have thought long and hard on this and have decided that he deserves this chance and he will get it if he so chooses." He finished a lot calmer than he had started. "Harry?"

"I honestly don't know professor. I would like some time to think about it if that is ok with you."

"Of course. You will be allowed to stay for this meeting and get an idea about what it is that we do. That may help you in your decision."

"Thank you."

"Now the first order of business for tonight is Harry and Nymphadora's wedding. We need to choose a location and guards for the event. I also think that the invitations that you have ready should not be sent until the night before. I realize that it is short notice for everyone but it will help with security. Have you decided on a location?"

Tonks looked at Harry and he nodded to her. "We have decided to take you up on your offer and use your manor if the offer still stands." Tonks told him

"Excellent that will definitely help out with security." The old headmaster beamed. Everyone else at the table bar Harry and Tonks were shocked. Not one of them had ever been to the headmasters house and now he was going to hold a wedding there. Most of them assume he lived at Hogwarts all year.

"Now, are there any volunteers for security? We need at least 4 guards."

"I will." Moody grumbled

"Me too." Bill Weasley

"Excellent. Now we need two more." Dumbledore said.

Charlie Weasley and Kingsley Shacklebolt both agreed.

"That is most pleasing to hear. Just so everyone is informed the top floor of this house will be sanctioned off for Harry and Nymphadora to use as their living quarters. It will be sectioned off from the rest of the house and to enter it you must have the password. Anti-apparition wards will also be put in place."

Harry was disappointed with the rest of the meeting. All that happened was that a few people gave reports on their assignments and Dumbledore gave out a few new assignments. It wasn't at all what he had expected. He would have to take that into account before he made his decision.

Just as they were exiting the kitchen they ran into Ron.

"Hi guys." He mumbled looking at his feet.

"Ron." Was the only response he got from Harry while Tonks stood by silently.

Ron looked up at both of them. Harry was holding Tonks' hand and he stood there expectantly. He knew what Harry wanted and he had planned out what to say a few times but now that he was in front of her he had nothing to say. He had plenty of free time to think it through. The only people that really conversed with him anymore were his parents and the twins. Hermione and Ginny would talk to him but it was obvious they wanted to be doing other things.

"I sort of…..owe you an apology." He mumbled.

"The floor doesn't need an apology, Ron." Harry deadpanned causing Ron to look up.

"Yeah. Tonks, I'm sorry. I was a prat and even though it isn't an excuse I wanted to say I was sorry for what I said about you. It was cruel and I shouldn't have said it."

"Thank you Ron." She looked over at Harry to see him looking a little bit happier than he had been in awhile. She knew that he missed Ron to some extent but he wasn't willing to make it work until Ron apologized to her. That was one of the things she adored about Har…Adored? Now that she thought about that would partially describe her feelings of Harry. She just wished she knew if his feelings were changing towards her as hers were towards him.

"We should probably get going for now Harry. You have been out of the wards a lot lately."

"You're right Nym. We should head back. I'll talk to you later Ron." He gave Ron a smile and they were almost to the fireplace when Fred and George popped in.

"You need…." George started.

"…To be here…" Fred picked up.

"…after lunch…"

"On Tuesday." They both finished grinning at Harry.

"Mum said we are celebrating your birthday after the will reading on the first but Fred and I have some things we need to talk to you about."

"Sure thing guys. See you later."

Harry had a hard time believing it. It was Saturday night and he would be married in four days time. He had just gotten into bed and Tonks was changing. She didn't bother to go to the restroom to change anymore. Harry was going to see her body soon enough anyways. She didn't get completely naked just down to her knickers and bra before slipping her night shirt on. The first two days she did this Harry was hard as a rock by the time she got into bed. He was more accustomed to it now and was able to keep calm enough to be able to lie next to her at night.

They had not proceeded any farther in their physical relationship. Even though they had seen each other wearing practically nothing the physical contact was restrained for when they were clothed. With the exception of the awkward moments that seemed to happen occasionally.

He lay next to his fiancé trying to sort through his feelings. The longer he knew Tonks the more attached he became. He knew now that he would eventually come to love Tonks, or as close to love as someone like him could come. He couldn't really imagine life without Tonks right now. She had become a part of his everyday life. He was exceptionally glad that they would have the top floor of Grimmauld Place to themselves after the wedding. He enjoyed waking up next to her every morning and he wasn't sure what he would do when it came time to go back to Hogwarts.

Sunday and Monday passed with Tonks helping Harry to study all of the sixth and seventh year charms that were used. She had her mum bring over her old books. She was certain the curriculum hadn't changed enough that her books would make much of a difference.

They were going to go pick up wedding rings tomorrow morning and then head over to Grimmauld Place to see what the twins wanted.

Harry had not had any more visions from Voldemort after the boat incident and he wasn't sure whether or not that was a good thing. The only positive reason he had for the scar attacks was that it meant that Voldemort was usually very angry about something. If he was that angry it was generally because he failed in one of his plans. He sincerely hoped that he had not yet succeeded in allying with the dementors. The last thing the world needed was all of the Death Eaters released and the dementors with them.

Tomorrow was the day. He would turn 16 and he would be married. They would be leaving in five minutes to go pick wedding rings and go for lunch in Diagon Alley. They would leave as soon as Tonks was through getting ready. She seemed especially giddy this morning but Harry shrugged it off as being excited about choosing rings. She had become more and more excited about the wedding as the time passed.

They soon found themselves at the same jeweler that had sold Harry the engagement ring. The searched for two hours and finally found something that Tonks liked. It was a set of rings. They weren't nearly as nice or as expensive as her engagement ring. It seemed that wedding bands were not as gaudy or outgoing as engagement rings tended to be. The rings were two tone gold. The outer band was made of fourteen karat white gold and the inner band was made of fourteen karat yellow gold. The yellow gold was in three strands woven together in the same design as her engagement ring. They came in a set of two so that his ring matched her ring.

Nearly 3 hours, and one thousand and fifty-six pounds lighter in the pocketbook, after they had arrived they were ready to get some lunch. They took a cab to the Leaky Cauldron and decided to have some ice cream in lieu of lunch. They proceeded to Florean Fortesques Ice Cream and ordered sundaes.

Tonks needed to take a trip to the restroom and left Harry alone at the table. It was at this point that Snivellus decided to make his appearance. Harry saw him approaching and groaned to himself.

"Well, well, well. What do you think you are doing all alone in this alley with no guard, Mr. Potter? Surely you aren't as stupid as you mangy mutt of a godfather was."

"I'm touched that you're concerned for my safety Snivellus but I am not in the mood to deal with you right now. Go find some other student and try and suffocate them with your greasy hair. I am afraid that I cannot concern myself with you right now."

"You little shit. How dare you speak to me that way?" Snape said drawing his wand.

"Are you going to hex me, professor?"

"You would deserve it. You and your trollop of a fiancé." He sneered. Unfortunately he said the last part loud enough to draw the attention of a few people nearby including the managing editor of the Daily Prophet.

That comment had Harry seeing red and he stood and drew his wand too. He had it pointed straight at his professor.

"You wouldn't dare do magic outside of school Potter. You may be stupid but I seriously doubt you forgot what happened last year."

"That may be true professor but what do you think the Aurors would believe. There are witnesses here. You came up to me and started taunting me and then drew your wand on me. I simply drew my wand in self defense for all these people know. Not to mention the fact that when I kick your arse it will simply appear as though the boy who lived simply dueled and subdued another mindless idiot who bears the Dark Mark. I am quite sure that you would have a great time explaining that situation away." Harry said in a fierce whisper.

"You arrog-"

"Can I help you with something Severus?" Tonks asked just returning from the restroom to find this interesting scene.

"Nothing Nymphadora." He scowled and was gone in a twirl of his robes.

"I think it would be best if we left now Nym. I have a feeling that after one of his comments our wedding may not be so secret anymore." He whispered to Tonks. Tonks for her part acted as if she expected no less and the two of them left to floo to headquarters.

"Harry, mate, how are you doing?" Fred said or was it George. Tonks said she had to go floo Dumbledore and let him know of Snape's little stunt.

"George and I were wondering if you got sidetracked." 'Well that answers that question.' Harry thought.

"Yeah mate. What happened?"

"We thought…."

"…You and your fiancé…."

"…had decided…."

"…to have your own…."

"…private party."

"Private party? What are you two on about?"

"Come on Harry. Surely you have figured out why you are here now. Right?" Fred asked

"Not really, no."

"Must we spell everything out to you? You're here for your bachelor party."

"Oh Merlin, no. Tell me you two didn't plan it. Please tell me it wasn't you."

"We're hurt Harry. We didn't plan the whole thing of course but between the two of us and Remus we took care of everything. Remus had to make arrangements for the entertainment though."

"What kind of entertainment?"

"Wait and see Harry, my boy. The party starts in an hour in the drawing room."

Harry went and told Tonks that he had to be at his bachelor's party. She understood and told him that Molly had just informed her that the women would be having a small get together at her mother's house.

Harry was more than a little nervous about any kind of party the twins could come up with but he had no choice but to attend.

The party consisted of all the Weasley males, minus Percy. Also present were Remus, Mundungus, for the alcohol, and Dedalus Diggle. There was plenty of butterbeer to go around and even more firewhiskey. All in all it was a great party. He was given all sorts of embarrassing gifts, including women's lingerie, which he was forced to put on over his clothing.

It was nearing ten o'clock when the twins turned the wireless off and started playing some provocative music. They grinned at each other and walked towards Harry just as the doors opened. In walked one of the sexiest women he had ever seen. She was wearing short leather shorts and a leather bra and nothing else. This was apparently the entertainment they were talking about.

"So this is the lucky man?" She asked walking up to Harry.

"That he is ma'am." Fred quipped.

"Well isn't this just you're luck night. One last night of freedom and they hired you the best."

"Have at him miss. We will just step aside."

"Ma'am no offence to you or your job but I am not interested."

"Not interested?" She asked mock insulted. "Have you ever had a lap dance before?"

"I can't say that I have. The point is that I really am not interested."

"Harry, what the hell is wrong with you? This is your last night of freedom. Go for it." George said.

"I can't do it George. I just can't."

"Why on earth not?"

"Because I think I am starting to fall in love with Tonks and I am not going to screw it up by spending the night with a stripper."

"Good choice hon." The stripper said with tears in her eyes.

"Huh?" Harry asked. He was immediately floored when the stripper morphed into Tonks. "What the hell?"

"I think I am starting to fall for you too Harry." She latched herself onto him not in the least concerned that this is the least amount of clothing she has worn during any of their encounters.

"You wait here for just a second. I need to take care of something." She whispered into his ear. She stood and wiped the tears out of her eyes and rounded on the twins.

The twins for their part had never been more scared than they were at that moment. Tonks' hair changed to blood red and her eyes pitch black as she drew her wand and started hurling hexes at the twins and yelling at them for trying to corrupt her fiancé. Remus and Harry were in the background with Bill, Charlie, and Ron laughing their arses off at the scene in front of them. Harry sobered immediately upon realizing that could have been him had he said the wrong answer.

With both of the twins out of the picture for a while Tonks returned to Harry and pulled him into a passionate kiss. "Now I think it is time for the dance I owe you Mr. Potter." She said while pulling Harry out of the room and up the stairs to her old bedroom at Grimmauld Place.

Early that morning, around 1:00 a.m. a very satisfied Tonks left Grimmauld Place to spend the night at her parent's house.


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: The Wedding 

"Where in the hell were you Nymphadora?" Her mother bellowed as soon as she walked in the door. "And why are you so happy all of the sudden?"

Tonks just stared at her mother with a stupid grin on her face that her mother knew well. Nothing could change her mood at this point but she didn't have the time to stand around and have a late night conversation with her mother. She was supposed to be getting married tomorrow, ok later today, and she needed her sleep.

"I certainly hope that with the way you are acting right now that you were with your fiancé Nymphadora. It is quite obvious what has happened tonight I just pray that you didn't go out for a night of fun before your marriage."

Tonks lost her smile at that comment. "Do you really think that poorly of me mum? What have I ever done to make you think that I would do such a thing?"

"I don't want to see you make a mistake dear, that's all. I'm not exactly used to seeing my daughter show up in the early hours of the morning dressed in a robe that barely covers the skimpy leather clothes you are wearing. Not to mention the stupid grin on your face and the obvious smell of arousal that signifies that you haven't showered yet." Her mother responded quietly at first but finished with no small amount of humor.

Tonks blushed crimson and opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out.

"We will talk about this tomorrow. Go get some sleep. Tomorrow will be an extremely busy day." Tonks turned to leave the room and headed upstairs to her bedroom. Hermione and Ginny were staying in her room since they did not want to go back to headquarters after the 'estrogen' party, as her dad called it.

She had waited for them to go to bed before heading over to the bachelor party and hoped that they were still sleeping.

No such luck. As soon as she opened the door she stopped in her tracks and gasped. There on the floor of her bedroom was Hermione and Ginny………..kissing.

Her gasp alerted the two to her presence and they immediately broke apart and faced her with looks of horror on their faces.

"Well this has certainly been one hell of an evening. Would you two mind telling me why you are making out on my bedroom floor?"

Hermione seemed to think it through and decided that by being honest with her they had the best chance to keep the whole situation to themselves.

"Well….the short answer is it just sort of happened……a month ago." Tonks merely raised an eyebrow. "It just proceeded from there I guess." She finished meekly.

"You won't tell anyone will you?" Ginny asked

"I don't keep secrets from Harry, so if he asks me if something is going on between you two I will not lie. We have shared almost everything together and the last secret will be revealed tomorrow night. That being said I will not rat you out to him but you may want to watch how you act around each other until you want the others to know."

"Why are you being so calm about this? I mean if I walked in on two girls snogging each other senseless I think I would be asking a few more questions." Hermione stated.

"Harry and I spent a lot of time talking over this last month. I know when it is best to just mind my own business."

"Thanks Tonks. Now I think we have a couple of questions for you."

"Ok."

"The first question is obviously where you went tonight after everyone went to bed."

"I played a prank on the twins."

"Come on Tonks. There has to be more to it than that. You wouldn't risk being tired on your wedding day over those two gits." Ginny exclaimed.

"I didn't originally plan on being there that long but circumstance changed and other things happened before I left." Tonks replied with a blush.

"OOOOH. You're blushing. What happened?"

"Well, the prank was about Harry's Bachelor Party. The twins wanted to hire a stripper to give Harry a lap dance. Remus told the twins not to worry and that he would take care of it. So Remus shows up a few days ago and tells me the whole story. I was a little angry that they wanted to get a stripper for my fiancé. 

Remus then came up with a great plan to trick them. I was supposed to morph into another woman and then show up at the party as the stripper." Both girls were giggling like mad in the background.

"So I showed up and offered Harry the lap dance. He declined saying that he didn't want to do anything to hurt 'my' feelings. It was at this point that I morphed and used some rather creative curses on the twins who were shocked to see me show up there. Needless to say, they will not be feeling anywhere near normal for awhile." She finished with an evil smile. "That will teach them to try and corrupt Harry."

"Well that answers the first question I asked and also the one I was about to ask. I was trying to figure out about the leather." Hermione finished.

"I think it would be best if we all went to sleep. It is almost 2:00 and we have to be up at 9:00."

"Sure thing, Tonks." Ginny said as Tonks turned out the light with her wand.

"Tonks?" Hermione asked a few moments later.

"Hmm?" Tonks answered already close to sleep.

"What is that smell….."

Harry woke up in the best mood he had been in since…..well ever. He had a grin on his face that he couldn't get rid of no matter what. He was up and showered for the day by 8:00. He dressed in casual clothes since there was no sense in getting his robes dirty before the ceremony.

He strolled into the kitchen and took a seat at the table and piled his plate full of food. The only other people in the room so far were Mrs. Weasley, Remus, and the twins. The twins were standing in the corner and, for the first time that he could remember, they did not seem happy.

He had a passing thought about whether or not Tonks' curses from the night before had anything to do with it. He had never heard of any of them before so he was not sure of their outcome. They scowled slightly when they saw him but stopped shortly afterwards, they must have realized that he didn't actually do anything. If anybody was to blame it was Remus.

Mrs. Weasley was still at the stove making more and more food so that she could add to the plates on the table when the others arrived. And last, his eyes settled on Remus who, upon seeing his grin, just smiled and shook his head.

It was just about this time that Harry and almost every other witch and wizard in Britain were receiving the Daily Prophet. Harry himself didn't get it but someone at Grimmauld Place did.

The owl landed on the table and Mrs. Weasley went to the jar on the counter and pulled out the money to pay the bird. Remus removed the paper and frowned. Apparently what ever was in it was not the best news.

"What's happened Remus?" Harry asked and Remus just handed over the paper.

Harry started to read it and his face lost its smile for the first time that day. "Well this is a bit inconvenient."

"That's an understatement. We need to get Tonks to Dumbledore's house as soon as possible."

"What's going on you two?" Molly asked finally stepping into the private conversation.

"Read this." Harry said and gave her the paper.

_**Daily Prophet Exclusive: Harry Potter to Wed Ministry Auror: Nymphadora Tonks!**_

Yesterday afternoon during a lunch date with his bride-to-be Mr. Potter was having an argument that was overheard by patron of Florean Fortesques Ice Cream Parlor. Professor Severus Snape confronted Mr. Potter while Ms. Tonks was away from the table and I was able to over hear some of the conversation. I wasn't able to catch most of the conversation but the part that stood out to me was Professor Snape's comment of 'You would deserve it. You and your trollop of a fiancé.' 

Needless to say that this reporter was shocked. Not only at the way a teacher was speaking to a student but the fact that said teacher insinuated one of the most eligible bachelors in the Wizarding world was apparently not eligible. I was not sure at the time who was his fiancé until Ms. Tonks arrived back at the table. Words were exchanged between the three involved parties and Professor Snape suddenly left the scene.

It was to be assumed that Mr. Potter was out for nothing more than a routine shopping day and was being escorted around by a Ministry Auror. It would have made sense for the ministry to ensure Mr. Potter's safety after the confirmed reappearance of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. It would also make sense to send someone with him that could change her disguise and blend into the crowd if necessary.

My assumptions were proved wrong and I discovered the mystery fiancé all at the same time. After the departure of Professor Snape, Mr. Potter whispered something to Auror Tonks and then she grabbed his hand and the two left the alley.

Nothing more of the wedding is known. When is the date? Where will it be? How will the thousands of heartbroken teenage witches act? But the most important question is how did the two of them get together? She is nearly 6 years older than him and he is still in Hogwarts.

Many questions need to be answered and we as the general Wizarding public have the right to have them answered.

My only comment to you Mr. Potter is to truly think this through before going ahead with the wedding. There is no need to commit yourself so young.

**Jared Diggs  
Daily Prophet Reporter**

"Oh dear. That's not good." Molly said after reading the news.

"Professor Dumbledore warned me last night that this could happen. He wasn't impressed with Severus as of last night." Remus said.

"What else did he say?" Harry asked.

"That if this should happen we were to get you and Tonks to his manor immediately. He is most worried about Tonks though."

"Why is he worried about her? Not that I am ungrateful, quite the opposite actually. I am glad that he is taking steps to help people I care about but what is the hurry?"

"Tonks is at her mother's house right now. She is not in a safe location. The problem we have now is that the Malfoys know of your marriage. They will know why you are getting married and will try to get a hold of Tonks to keep the ceremony from happening. No more talking for now. I have to go get her. Take the floo powder and go to Dumbledore's manor. The floo address is 'Lemon Drop Lair'" Remus said with a roll of his eyes at Dumbledore's address.

Narcissa Malfoy was sitting down to breakfast with her son when the _Daily Prophet_. In a rare display for the Malfoy matriarch her eyes went wide and she spit out her coffee all over the table. Draco wouldn't have paid her any mind since he really didn't love his mother or his father. He just cared about the honor and prestige of the Malfoy name. The only thing that made him even check to see if she was ok was the fact that in his sixteen years of life he had never witnessed his mother lose her composure.

"What happened mum?"

She threw the paper at him across the table. "Does this mean…..."

"Yes, it does. We need to get in contact with Bellatrix. I know where the Auror lives but it would hardly be wise for us to do anything so public. Stay here and I will let you know what happens." Narcissa left the room to apparate to her sister's hideout.

"Bella I need your help."

Tonks woke up the next morning before Hermione and Ginny. It was too close of a call the night before. She needed to take a shower and get dressed before they asked anymore questions. She narrowly avoided answering their question the night before by lying and saying she had no idea.

It was about 8:30 when she got out of the shower and finished dressing. She walked into the kitchen and saw Hermione and Ginny still in their night clothes talking to her mother while Remus was in the background. The appearance of Remus was something of a shock but she didn't think too much about it.

"Nymphadora grab your things that you will need for the day we are leaving immediately." Her mother told her as soon as she was noticed.

"What has happened? Is Harry alright?"

"We will explain more on the once we are out of here. Your father is getting some things for us to take with us."

"Is this about Harry? Is he alright?"

"He's fine Tonks but you need to hurry. I will explain everything once we are there." Remus intervened.

Ten minutes later the portkey activated and they found themselves in the hallway of a huge manor.

Severus Snape felt his mark burn and knew that he had to go. He apparated outside the Dark Lord's throne room and entered the room with his head bowed. "My lord?"

"Come here Severus." The cold voice hissed. "You have failed me Severus."

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean, my lord." Severus immediately regretted his statement as he was hit with a thirty second bout of the cruciatus curse.

"Do not lie to me Severus. You knew of the Potter brat's wedding and you failed to inform me. This could very well have serious consequences. Now you will know why you should not keep information from Lord Voldemort. Crucio."

Snape knew that he was going to be here for awhile to be tortured. Even through the pain the only thing he could think of was how much he hated Potter.

The Tonks family, Remus, Hermione, and Ginny looked around the huge hallway. It obviously belonged in a huge house.

"Where are we Remus? And why are we here?" Tonks asked.

He handed her a copy of the _Daily Prophet_. "That will explain why we are here. As to where we are…..this is the place where you will be married tonight."

"THIS is Dumbledore's manor?"

"Of course it is my dear." Dumbledore announced upon his arrival. "I am glad to see that you all have arrived safely.

"I will show you around. Mr. Potter is waiting outside. He didn't feel like staying indoors today."

'That will change this evening no doubt' Tonks thought to herself before speaking out loud. "Well this doesn't fully explain why we had to be here so early." Tonks stated upon finishing the article. "It wasn't all that much of a surprise after Snape's little stunt yesterday."

"That may be true Ms. Tonks but think of it this way. Now that the article has been printed the Malfoy's know that if this marriages takes place before tomorrow that Draco will not be inheriting the Black Estate. I feel that they may try to do anything they can to stop this from happening so you have been brought here as it is much safer than your parent's house."

"Oh" was her intelligent response.

Dumbledore led them away from the huge marble tiled entrance hall. The hall itself was bare and the elegance of the house could only be determined by the polished marble flooring and the shear size of it. He led them throughout the entire house. There were very few paintings or anything that one would expect Dumbledore's house to look like. It was a sharp contrast from his office.

The whole house was tiled in marble except for the bedrooms and sitting room. There were golden statues spread out here and there to add to the elegant décor of the manor. His library was huge. It was about half the size of the Hogwarts library and every shelf was filled.

"No offence, sir, but this is hardly how I pictured your house to be." Tonks said

"None taken, Ms. Tonks. All of my personal effects are at Hogwarts. This house once had many trinkets and portraits adorning the walls. I fear that it will not happen again until I retire. I prefer to have my personal belongings with me at Hogwarts. I rarely stay here for more than one night at a time and even then it is spread out few and far between. I chose to live at Hogwarts year round. There is always something to do in the castle and I would be far too bored here by myself." He finished with a smile.

"This place is really nice it just wasn't what I had imagined. Where is the ceremony being held?"

"I have the elves out setting up the decorations in the back yard. You will find that I have no neighbors for quite a distance. I have also added a number of new wards to the house. It is almost as safe as Hogwarts and equally so of headquarters."

Hermione didn't look happy in the least at hearing that elves were working here but she didn't dare voice her opinion to the headmaster.

"I will have an elf escort you ladies to a room where you can prepare for this afternoons festivities and he will also take care of a room for you, Mr. and Mrs. Tonks."

"Thank you Albus." Tonks and Andromeda replied.

"It was nothing. If you will excuse me, Remus and I need to be off to collect the rest of the Weasley's. Everyone else should be arriving around 11:00. We shall return shortly."

"Damn it. We missed them." Bella hissed. "Where would the blood traitor and her daughter have their wedding?"

"At Hogwarts would be my guess" Narcissa answered. "They always seem to think it is the safest place."

"We need to report this to the Dark Lord. He will be most unhappy."

Harry was just waiting for Remus to go outside and let him know that everything was alright. He was outside watching the elves set up for the ceremony. Dumbledore had a huge field in his backyard with green grass as far as he could see. The elves had already setup the alter with a white arch decorated in flowers that looked like lilies. It really was a sight to behold. He still couldn't quite comprehend that this was all for him and Tonks.

The wedding was set to take place at 1:00. The Order and family members would be arriving sometime before them but he couldn't recall the exact time. He just knew that Moody would definitely be there early to check over everything with his glass eye.

The elves were now setting up the chairs. He noticed that there seemed to be about 200 of them lined up and couldn't help but wonder how many people were really supposed to show up. He figured it would be a small ceremony with close family and friends, with the Order for protection.

It was almost 11:00 now and he still hadn't heard from anybody. He wondered if maybe Remus forgot he was out there but shook it off and figured that he must still be busy. He was walking back toward the house when a group of wizard and witches appeared right in front of him. He drew his wand on instinct but relaxed when he noticed the Weasley's and the Order members that were there to stand guard.

"Good reflexes Potter" Moody growled out while his magical eye swept over everything. "We need to get to work. I would advise you not to walk through this specific area. All of the portkeys Dumbledore made for the guests are keyed to land here for security."

"Bill and I will watch the portkey entrance and check everyone, Alastor, if you and Kingsley want to do the patrol" Charlie Weasley said.

"Whatever kid. Just be sure to check everyone that comes in here. Don't need no Death Eaters showing up" He answered.

Harry decided to take his leave with the twins and Mrs. Weasley since the rest had jobs to do. Harry led them inside and walked to where he thought Dumbledore said the sitting room was located. They found it easily and Mr. Tonks was sitting already there.

"They are already upstairs getting ready. I assume that you would like to go Mrs.?"

"Weasley and yes I would like to go help if they don't mind."

"I don't see why they would. I'll lead you up there and come back down here afterwards."

Harry sat on the black leather couch and watched the twins walking around the room.

"Have a seat guys. We still have another hour before we have to get ready."

"No can do Harry-kins." George started

"Your sweet……

"….innocent…..

"……oh so caring……"

"…..fiancé…."

"….hexed us pretty…."

"….good last night…"

"We're not even sure of the hexes she used but the boils she gave us won't come off." Fred finished.

"What boils?"

"You can't see them and we won't show you where they are. Just know that we won't be sitting down today." George answered

"Not to mention mum made us empty out our pockets and shoes and everything else before she took our wands."

"Yeah. It's almost like the woman doesn't trust us."

"I was rather hurt by it myself. How about you George?"

"Absolutely offended."

"Enough you two. I know you well enough to know that her concerns were valid. I will also say that you two pulled off the prank on Sam perfectly. So thank you for that. However I will say that I won't go against what Tonks did last night. It's not even her you should be mad at since it wasn't her idea either."

"That means..." Fred started.

"Sneaky old marauder pulled one over on us."

"We can't let that go unpunished."

"Definitely not."

"That would..."

"….be an insult to our pranking skills…."

"If you guys want a prank war then be my guest. Just be warned that age has no bearing on his capabilities. And now that I think about it. Leave me and Tonks out of it."

"No promises mate. Never can know if someone gets caught in the crossfire." George stated practically.

"Crossfire of what?" Ted asked.

"Nothing much sir. George and I have some looking around to do. We're sure that you two probably need to have a god long discussion now." Fred ginned maliciously at Harry as they left.

The room was silent for a few moments before Ted started to speak. "I know that we haven't had much of a chance to talk yet Harry, but there are a few things I wanted to say."

"Um…..Ok" Harry gulped nervously.

"Relax Harry. You already have my approval. I just wanted to make sure that you are going to take care of her and treat her right. I know that you will have the financial means to do so but money isn't everything."

"I know sir. I want to make sure she is as happy as possible. I promised her that when we got engaged. I told her that I knew that love wasn't a factor in the marriage to begin with and that we were both kind of thrown into it. I told her that regardless of that, there was no possible way to tell the future.

"I can tell you now that it was the truth. During the time I have spent getting to know Tonks over this last month my feelings towards her have changed. I am not sure what they are exactly. I would like to think that they are love but I have nothing to compare these feelings to in order to be sure.

"I don't know if her feelings are similar to mine or not. I told her last night that I thought I was falling in love with her and she told me the same. The problem is that I don't know if she said that to make me feel better or if her feelings really have changed. After getting to know her I doubt it was the former. Basically to summarize my rambling, I believe that I am falling in love with your daughter and I will do everything I can to make sure that she lives a happy life."

"That's good to know Harry and please stop calling me sir. I'm not that old. My only question now is how you told Nymphadora that you were falling in love with her when she was supposed to be at our house all night."

'Oh shit.' "What I-"

"There you are Harry. I thought you were outside." Remus interrupted. "I'm sorry to interrupt but it is time for you to start getting ready. Dumbledore showed me to a room on third floor that has a connecting bathroom that we are to use to get dressed. Most of the Order has arrived and a few guest as well."

"Remus, who was invited. I saw almost 200 chairs being set up. I thought it was close friends and family."

"You will find out soon enough. I understand that a few of your friends from school are here."

Tonks was starting to get nervous. She wasn't having second thoughts; just trying to grasp the concept that finally after all of this time she had found someone that could look past her abilities and see her as a person. This was something she had spent her whole life looking for and now she had it. Granted, the circumstances weren't what she was expecting, but maybe everything happens for a reason.

She was thrilled to hear Harry say that he was falling in love with her. She had pinpointed those exact same feelings in herself a few days prior but never shared them with him. Their relationship had progresses so well that she was afraid a declaration of love may do more harm than good, in the fragile relationship.

She was almost through getting ready. She had chosen to wear a muggle wedding dress, as they were much prettier than any dress robes they had looked at. Harry was going to wear a muggle dress suit instead of a tuxedo. He just didn't look right in a tuxedo. His suite had a deep blue color to it and a dark blue shirt with black tie. It only had two buttons at the bottom of the jacket and shiny black dress shoes specifically for this occasion. After the wedding they would both change into dress robes for the reception since they would be more comfortable.

Hermione was ready to go and was just helping Tonks put the finishing touches on her dress and hair style. Tonks' dress was a simple off-white wedding dress. It had beads going around the neck and waist and it hugged her curves perfectly. At the waist the dress fanned out and created a bell effect. She opted not to wear a veil and had Hermione curl her hair the muggle way instead of using her abilities to style it.

"You're ready to go Tonks. Are you nervous?" Hermione asked.

"Not really" she lied. "I've had time to get used to the idea. Can you see if my mother is ready?"

Mrs. Tonks and Mrs. Weasley left Hermione to get ready and put the finishing touches on Tonks. They were running later than planned and still had to get dressed themselves.

All of the women came back into the room to get Tonks. Unknown to her the other women had bought dress robes to match the color of Hermione's brides maid dress so they all matched. Hermione was in a sleeveless off-white dress that clung to her form. There was nothing fancy about it.

The four women met up with Ginny, who had just finished changing in the bathroom, and headed downstairs. They could see everyone already gathered outside and realized that it was five minutes until the start of the ceremony. They left Tonks and Hermione inside and they hurried to get to their seats.

Now was the time. He was getting married. The ceremony was starting and he watched as Mrs. Tonks, Mrs. Weasley, and Ginny took their seats in the front row. He had been a little surprised to see all of the people there. He had only been at the front of the aisle for a few minutes and had been watching the crowd ever since.

He noticed that most of the D.A. was present with the exception of Zacharias Smith and Marietta Edgecombe. He also noticed that all of the Order was present with the exception of Snape, for which he was eternally grateful. Tonks' two best friends had shown up as well as the teachers at Hogwarts.

He was glad that no ministry officials seemed to be present or any reporters. This was not something that was any of their business regardless of what they believed.

His musings were cut short as he heard the wedding march start to play. Remus laid a hand on his shoulder as a show of support for which he was grateful for. He looked at the end of the aisle to see Hermione start walking down the aisle by herself. Hermione took her time keeping a steady pace and arrived at the alter and stood across from Remus and turned to face the aisle, waiting for Tonks.

"Here we go" Harry whispered to himself but loud enough so that Remus heard it too. The music restarted and Tonks appeared at the end of the aisle. Harry couldn't help but stare a little bit. Sure he had seen her naked now but that didn't change the fact that he thought she was gorgeous in almost anything she chose to wear.

Tonks walked up the aisle and noticed her friends towards the front. Both of them were giving her appraising looks. She returned the looks with a smile and settled her eyes on her mum.

Andromeda had tears in her eyes but still smiled as her only child walked down the aisle to face the beginning of the rest of her life.

Tonks smiled to her mother and finally looked up at Harry. She noticed that he looked handsome in his suit but she preferred him in slacks in and a dress shirt opposed to a full blown suit. Still she had no reason to complain. Her thoughts carried her all the way up the aisle and across from Harry.

She saw him smiling at her when she was even with him. She looked him in the eye and returned the smile before mouthing "Happy Birthday" to him. By the shock evident on his face she realized it must not have even come across his mind that today was, indeed, his birthday.

As the newly reappointed Head of the Wizengamot, Albus Dumbledore was to preside over the ceremony. He cleared his throat and called the assembled guests attention to him.

"Good afternoon everyone.

"Today is the start of a new life for both Harry Potter and Nymphadora Tonks. Today they will exchange vows of love and commitment to each other. You are all here as close friends and family of these two wonderful young people to witness their love for each other.

"Without further delay I will begin the ceremony.

"Mr. Potter, please repeat after me.

"I, Harry James Potter, pledge my body, mind, and soul to you as a sign of my love."

Harry repeated the words looking Tonks directly in the eye, and then Dumbledore turned to Tonks.

"Ms. Tonks, repeat after me.

"I, Nymphadora Tonks, pledge my body, mind, and soul to you as a sign of my love."

She repeated the words and looked at Harry in the eye. When they made eye contact something changed within them. They could almost feel each others feelings.

"Now Mr. Potter hand me the rings." Harry handed them over without question to the aging Headmaster. He and Tonks watched as Dumbledore drew his wand and whispered an incantation under his breath. The rings glowed red, then blue, then white.

"The three colors that these rings gave off are the magical representation of the pledges they just made. Red for body, blue for mind, and white for soul. When they place these rings upon their fingers the bond between them shall be complete." He handed Tonks and Harry the rings. "Please exchange the rings."

As the two approached each other Harry said in a voice low enough so that only she could hear him, "I know last night I said that I thought I was falling in love with you. Today I would have to say that I KNOW I am falling in love with you. The original reason for this marriage might not have been why we imagined ourselves getting married, I have to say that I would not change anything that has happened over this last month for anything. I love you Nym and now I give you my proof." Harry had tears lining his eyes as, for the first time in his life; he told someone he loved them. Tonks too had tears in her eyes as she held her left hand out and Harry gently placed the ring on her finger in front of the engagement ring.

Tonks looked Harry in the eyes and whispered "While I agree that this may not have been the way I planned on meeting my husband, I also agree that I would change nothing. I have known for a few days now that I love you but I was too afraid to say so. I will say it now just as you did. I love you Harry James Potter and now I too give you my proof."

As soon as the ring was on his finger they both flashed red, blue, and white again and settled on their natural color. Harry leaned in and kissed Tonks…….Nym on the lips. They were both oblivious to the fact that the Headmaster had not yet told them to kiss.

They soon separated and turned to see Dumbledore looking at them with the same twinkling eyes he normally has. "Now that they have completed the next part of the ceremony without being told" this statement received a few chuckles from the crowd and a grin from Remus. "It is my honor to introduce to you Mr. and Mrs. Harry James Potter.

Right after the wedding ceremony Harry led Nym down the aisle and over to the other side of the lawn where the reception would be held. Harry still had tears in his eyes and Nym seemed to be trying to hold hers at bay.

They were not left alone for long. Before either one of them had a chance to say anything everyone formed a line to talk to them. Remus and Hermione came up and stood beside them as they greeted everyone. Mr. and Mrs. Tonks greeted them warmly, the latter with her makeup messed up from crying, and the former with a smile on his face. Deep down Harry wished his own parents could be there but he knew they were watching anyways.

The younger Weasley's all came up and congratulated them although the twins stayed clear of Nym while she grinned evilly at them. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came up and gave their congratulations too. Harry almost stopped breathing while Mrs. Weasley crushed his ribcage against her in a tight hug. The rest of the group came up and gave their congratulations too. 

Martha and Hannah, Nym's friends, came up and hugged her and told her how happy they were for her. They told her their floo address, since it seemed, they were sharing a flat in London. Before heading off with the rest of the crowd Martha leaned in and whispered something to Nym that turned her beet red and caused Martha to giggle.

The only people that stopped to talk to them outside of congratulations were Neville and Luna. Harry wished Neville a happy birthday and told Luna that he was happy she was able to make it back from her trip in time to come.

The reception lasted until almost 10:00 that night and both Harry and Nym were tired. Neither was aware of a team of Death Eaters that tried valiantly to break into Hogwarts until nightfall at which point no lights were lit and they realized nobody was there. They were not aware of Draco Malfoy being ruthlessly tortured under the cruciatus curse upon the Death Eaters' return. The only thing they were aware of was each other and the night that lay ahead of them.

Dumbledore prepared portkeys for everyone to go back to headquarters and gave Harry and Tonks one that would take them straight to their bedroom in the blocked off portion of Grimmauld Place. He told them that the password to get in and out of their rooms was 'everlasting love' and handed them the portkey which activated immediately and they ended up in their room.

"Would you like to look around our new flat Mr. Potter?" She asked with a giggle, already knowing his answer.

"I think I would rather look at you, Mrs. Potter."

"Good answer" she said before latching herself onto his lips.

"I want to see you Nym."

"I'm right here Harry."

"You know what I meant. I want to see the real you. I want to know what my wife looks like naturally." She pulled away from him and told him to close his eyes. He did as she said and was surprised when he heard her dress hit the floor.

His expression must have given away his confusion because she giggled at him. "I won't fit in the dress in my natural state. Ok. You can open your eyes."

If Harry had thought she was beautiful before then she was a goddess now. She stood around 5'6" tall and had light brown hair that fell shortly past her shoulders. Her eyes were a cross between green and blue, almost a teal color, and she retained the same heart shaped face. Her lips filled out and looked infinitely more kissable that the smaller lips that she had before. Her skin tone was a little pale but not too much.

As for her body structure she filled out in the breasts and her hips became more defined. If he had to use one word to describe the women standing in front of him it would have been 'perfect.'

The rest of the night was spent consummating the marriage and in a vault deep in the bowels of Gringotts the Potter family tree updated itself as did the Black family tree downstairs.


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: The Reading**

Harry woke up naked the next morning next to his equally naked wife. The previous night had been one of the best of his entire life. He couldn't help but grin at his thoughts strayed to the previous evening.

They had made love three times. He had definitely been up for more but Nym couldn't. After the first round she was rather sore since it was her first time. By the end of the third she was too sore to continue on. That, however, did not stop her from falling asleep with a smile on her face. Harry stayed up and watched her sleep for about half an hour before deciding it best to get some rest at about 3:00 a.m.

He and Nym had decided that she would use the birth control potion for now. It wasn't so much that they were worried about Voldemort as much as Harry wasn't sure that he was ready for a kid quite yet. After all, he had only found out he was getting married a month ago. They also decided that since the potion only lasted for a month at a time, that once a month, they would have a discussion as to whether or not to continue its use.

Nym started to stir next to him and he tightened his grip around her waist. She woke up and tried to roll over only to be stopped by his firm grip. She wiggled up against him in retaliation. Once she got the desired response he loosened up his grip and she rolled over in the bed to face him. Ignoring his problem poking her in the stomach she leaned in and kissed him.

"Good morning love."

"Morning Nym. Feeling better yet?"

"Still a little sore but I'm sure I can get a muscle relaxing potion from downstairs."

"You know I didn't mean to hurt you, right?"

"Don't be ridiculous Harry. If I didn't want to keep going then we wouldn't have. And believe me when I say that there is nothing to complain about over last night's activities." She said with a grin

"And what do you plan on doing now that you have me all worked up?"

"I figured I would take a shower and get dressed. Whatever you wanted to do about it is your choice. You shouldn't have held me captive when I woke up. This is the penalty."

"Is that so?" He asked with a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

"I believe it is. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to take a shower. The last thing I need is a repeat of yesterday morning."

"What about yesterday morning?" He asked getting out of bed with her.

"Hermione and Ginny were awake when I got back to my mum's house after your bachelor party. I didn't take a shower before I got there and well…..to put it bluntly, I smelled like sex." The only response she got was a raised eyebrow so she continued. "I'm sure you smelled it last night, but, I had to dodge questions from my mum and the two of them and I would rather not have to do that again this morning. Not to mention the hot shower may help with the soreness."

"Would you like some help?" Harry wasn't totally naïve. He had heard stories from other boys about having sex in showers. He wasn't going to push her into it but it didn't mean he wouldn't try for it either.

"I doubt either one of us will end up clean if that happens" She responded wryly.

"Never know until you try" Harry quipped.

"I guess it won't hurt to try. We still have about five hours before the reading, so we aren't exactly in a hurry."

Harry followed Nym as they walked around their floor at Grimmauld Place. They needed to find the bathroom so they opted for a quick tour of their living area so they would know where everything was at.

It wasn't much to look at, all considered. It was a standard one house layout. None of the rooms were huge but they were moderately sized. It was more functional than for show and both Harry and Nym appreciated it. They had a small living room that had a couch, loveseat, and two armchairs. There was a small coffee table and fireplace too. The dining room and kitchen were in one room that was slightly bigger than the living room. There was a full cooking area as well as a table for four set in the corner.

The kitchen was stocked with the items that Harry had purchased earlier that summer in Diagon Alley. It was apparent that Remus, and whoever else helped him, had packed up and moved their belongings into the area for them.

Apparently their bedroom was the largest room of them all. It appeared that they had knocked down one wall between two rooms to make it the size it is now. It was a welcome change from the cramped living quarters they had at Privet Drive.

The last room they found was the one they had started their search looking for. The restroom was right next to the living room. It had a larger than average bathtub in it and was more than large enough for both of them to get ready in at the same time.

The only remarkable thing to point out about their living area was that it looked absolutely nothing like Grimmauld Place. The walls were painted and shining in an off-white color and the floors were all carpeted in dark blue. The area looked like it could have been a brand new house, and that was saying something considering the amount of time that all of them had spent cleaning last summer and they hardly made a dent in making the house look nice.

Now that the mini-tour was complete, they walked over to tub and Nym turned on the taps. She wanted to take a bath that morning instead of a shower, so they could relax and not waste all of the hot water in the house while they 'washed' each other.

Apparently Nym wasn't as sore as she thought. It was almost two and a half hours later that they exited the bathroom cleaned up and ready to go for the day. It was now 2:00 and they had two more hours before the reading of the will would take place.

They decided to go and see what everyone else was doing for now and left through the password protected door.

They tried to find everyone else and it seemed that they were all congregated in the sitting room. Harry and Nym walked in hand in hand and took a seat on the loveseat before looking up at the rest of the room.

"What's up guys?" Harry asked

"We didn't expect to see either of you down here until it was time to go to the reading. We decided it best not to bother you for the day." Remus answered.

"Why is everybody in here?" Nym asked.

"Something interesting happened last night. Apparently when you two…um…consummated your marriage," Remus paused to admire the shade of red they both turned. Most of the other people in the room laughed or blushes slightly too, except Ron, who didn't quite catch the meaning of the term. "Well….after that happened, the tapestry in here updated."

"That isn't possible." Nym stated still fighting the redness of her face. "My mum was disowned so I was never apart of the original tapestry and Harry isn't a blood relative or we wouldn't have had to do this to begin with."

"I agree with both of those statements; however, it does not change the fact that both you and Harry are on the tapestry right now."

"Can I see the tapestry?" Harry interrupted the proceedings.

"Sure, come on over here and take a look."

Harry and Nym walked over and observed the tapestry. The tapestry looked identical to the last time Harry has seen it with one small exception. At the bottom of the tapestry, beneath everything else on the tree, and attached to nothing above it, were their names. Nymphadora Tonks Potter-Black 1974- and Harry James Potter-Black 1980-

It was almost as though they were a new tree separate from the old one. "This almost looks like a new tree, but how" Harry asked.

"I think I can answer that Mr. Potter." Everybody in the room turned to face Dumbledore as he stood in the doorway. "I had not necessarily expected this to happen but it is for the best that it did.

"It is indeed a new Black Family tree. The magic embedded into these tapestries will not allow the removal of the head of the family. In this case, Harry, this house, and the tapestry, recognize you as the new head of the Black family. Any record of the Black family will now be updated with your names on it.

"This actually works in our favor since Gringotts has a scroll for every family in the Wizarding world. These scrolls contain the most updated lists of the heads and heirs of all of the families. They are technically identical to the family trees except they are in list format instead of an actual tree format."

"Excuse me, sir, but how exactly does this help us" Nym asked.

"With those scrolls in place, the Malfoy's will be unable to contest the decision. The magic of the Black family has accepted the two of you as Blacks and Harry as the Head of the family." This statement was met with nods of understanding from everyone in the room.

Hermione broke the silence with a question of her own. "What do we call you now, Mrs. Potter?"

Nym looked pensive as she thought it through. Harry had chosen a new name for her since she wasn't a Tonks any longer, but she liked having a name that only he called her. "Keep calling me Tonks for now. I have grown accustomed to it so it will be easier for now."

"Well then, Tonks, and Harry, we must be on our way. Remus you should be there as well. I am not sure who all is receiving anything but I assume it is safe to say that Sirius would have wanted you there."

"We still have an hour before the reading. It is necessary to go just yet" Remus asked.

"Unfortunately it is. There is some other business that must be brought to the goblins attention once we are there." He took out his wand and made a portkey from a book that took them to the Leaky Cauldron. "I didn't think you would want to make such a dramatic appearance in the middle of the alley. I know that you and Tonks have been here a few times over the summer and have been relatively unbothered but with the news of your wedding, I think it is for the best." He said the last to Harry.

They headed off towards Gringotts together. Harry and Nym held hands and were in the middle of Dumbledore and Remus. They drew a lot of stares from the patrons of the alley and ignored them all. Around five minutes later they arrived at the front doors of Gringotts and approached a teller.

"Albus Dumbledore, Remus Lupin, and Harry and Nymphadora Potter are here for the reading of Sirius Black's will. Albus Dumbledore also requests the reading of James and Lily Potter's wills today after the regular proceedings." He looked at Harry after saying this and was a little surprised that Harry showed no signs of shock at learning of his parents will.

Harry saw the look and spoke up. "I know about the Potter family vault. I found out about it earlier this summer when I came here. It was just one more mistake on your part for keeping it from me. It was something that I had the right to know about and you kept if from me like everything else. However, this is neither the time nor the place to have a conversation like this. I am not happy about it but in the end there is not a whole lot I can do about it now so I have accepted it. Just know that I am not happy with you, again."

Dumbledore nodded his head with a sad look on his face. He knew after telling him of the prophecy that the other secrets would come out too. He also knew that there was no way to make up for past mistakes, only to work on the future. He was just glad that Harry had not exploded in front of everyone at Gringotts. The last thing the Wizarding world needed was a public fight between the two most famous light wizards.

The small group walked into the conference room, being led by a goblin called Belhook. After leading them into the room Belhook left to arrange the reading of the Potter's wills. The small room was almost void of people. Narcissa and Draco Malfoy were present in addition to themselves and another goblin. The goblin introduced himself as Tenhook. Tenhook was the head of the inheritance department at Gringotts.

Once everyone was set at the table, the goblin began. "It has come to my knowledge that you, Mrs. Malfoy, wish to contest the contents of the written will. Is this correct?"

"It most certainly is. Based on the purity laws set forth by the Ministry of Magic centuries ago, he," she sneered and pointed her finger at Harry. "cannot inherit anything. He is not a blood relative and the law prevents the estate from being passed on to someone not related by blood."

"Your claim is noted. The will reading will proceed normally and at the end of the reading we will address your claim.

"The following is the last will and testament of one Sirius Orion Black:" Nym looked over at her husband and noticed that, despite putting up a strong front so far, he was close to losing his composure. She reached under the table and grabbed his hand, giving it a firm squeeze. He returned the gesture without even looking at her. His eyes were focused on Tenhook.

"I, Sirius Orion Black, being of sound mind and body, do hereby declare this to be my last will and testament.

"I am going to make this quick. I am sure that the only people that have shown up here today are my best friend Remus, my godson Harry, and my probably my cousin Narcissa to steal whatever she can.

"If anybody else showed up then I would guess it to be Andromeda and her family. If you are there, know that I have missed you and, even though I have been out of prison for two years, I could not contact you. I have met Nymphy though and if you are here then take that as a parting shot from your favorite cousin. I never could call you that without being chased around the house with curses flying.

"So, to make this as simple as possible, I am leaving Remus J Lupin, with 3,000,000 galleons from the Black family vault to do with as he wishes. My choice is for new robes, but, hey it's your money now.

"As far as the rest of the estate is concerned, I leave it to my heir, Harry James Potter. I am writing this will at the beginning of your fifth year at Hogwarts. I plan to update this every year in case something happens to you or Remus. Since you are hearing this version then obviously I did not live to see you turn 16.

"I am truly sorry for that. It may just be wishful thinking on my part, but I assume that you did not take my death very well. I am also equally sure that Remus did not either. Try and find some comfort from each other. If this is not possible then my suggestion is to get drunk and shag a pretty woman for me. I guess that whole being of sound my and body wasn't exactly true, but you know me, and this is something that I would have told you if I was alive anyways.

"I am not sure what exactly is in my estate so you will have to ask the goblins for a complete listing of what my family owned.

"If Narcissa, Bellatrix, or anyone else showed up in hopes of getting something, then I have a message for you. You have made your choices in life and I have made mine. My choice is leave you with nothing. You sold your soul to the devil and now you will live with it. I will never allow anything else of the Black Family to go to support the Dark Lord. If you are here on his orders then go back and tell him you failed and enjoy the consequences as my parting gift to you.

"I guess that concludes everything that I wish to say. Have wonderful lives, if I got along with you, if I didn't, then you probably serve Voldemort and deserve the life of hell he will surely provide you with.

"Signed, Sirius Orion Black. Dated September 3, 1995." Tenhook placed the signed copy of the will on the table for everyone to see.

"Now, Mrs. Malfoy, I am aware of the laws so we will continue with your contestation of the will.

"Mr. Lupin, regardless of the outcome of these proceedings your inheritance remains intact. The law only applies to bequeathing the majority, fifty-one percent, of the estate to a non-blood relative.

"Mr. Potter, are you aware of the purity laws and Mrs. Malfoy's claim?"

"I am." He replied. His eyes were devoid of emotion but he held a firm grip on his wife's hand.

"Is there anything you have to say on your behalf?"

"Her claim is invalid and the written will stands correct."

"Liar. Just because your engaged to the half blood doesn't give you any right to my money" Draco shouted the first sound he had made since Harry entered the room.

"You are of course correct, Draco. My being engaged to Tonks does not entitle me to anything." Harry responded still devoid of emotion. Draco grinned in triumph but his grin faltered and his mother became outraged as Harry continued.

"You are not the only ones who know the laws. My engagement to Tonks does not grant me anything, that is true, but my marriage to her most certainly does. My wife and I were married yesterday afternoon. This means that any of our children will be Black's by blood and provides a loophole in these laws."

"I don't believe you. I want proof that this is the case. You could just be saying that you are married so that you can get all of this."

"Are you that stupid Malfoy? Do you really think I care about the money? I could care less about the money. I would rather have my godfather back than take a sickle of his money. I have no reason to lie here today." Harry's temper rose the more he had to hear from the blonde haired ferret.

"I think you will find that the Black family scroll has indeed updated and accepted Mr. Potter as the next Head of the Black family." Dumbledore interrupted.

"Tenhook, if you please…." Dumbledore motioned for him to retrieve the scroll.

Tenhook retrieved the scroll from his box of files concerning the Black family. "They are both correct, Mrs. Malfoy. The scroll has accepted him as the next Head of the family.

"I herby declare your contestation null and void."

"You won't get away with this, Potter. The Dark Lord will take what is rightfully his and I will be there to help him" Draco yelled as his mother kept trying to shut him up while dragging him from the room.

Harry turned to Dumbledore. "How much more proof do you need, Headmaster. He admits to supporting Voldemort. I will not go easy on him this year if he tries anything. If you will not suspend him then you sure as hell better not let him run around unchecked. That is one mistake I will never forgive you for as you have fair warning."

"Harry, you must under-"

"We will continue with the Potter's will now" Tenhook interrupted as Belhook arrived in the room.

"Would you like to do a formal reading or would you just like the will to be executed and then be provided with a copy" Tenhook asked Harry and Nym.

Harry looked at Nym and saw nothing but love and understanding in her eyes. "I think I would prefer it to be executed and then receive a copy. I would rather go over it some other day."

"Understandable Mr. Potter." Tenhook fished through the box he brought and the box that Belhook arrived with. "Here is the copy of the assets for the Black and Potter families. Everything listed therein is yours minus the 3,000,000 galleons that went to Mr. Lupin.

"Have a nice day." Tenhook and Belhook exited the room and left the small group alone together.

"Harry as I was saying." Dumbledore began.

"No, Headmaster. I gave you warning. This conversation is not for further discussion. You admitted your mistakes and that you didn't want to make any more of them. I am telling you now how to avoid one. I will not forgive you if something happens to one of my friends or Nym because you did not listen and put a leash on the ferret. If you'll excuse me." He deadpanned and both he and Nym left the room with Remus following shortly behind leaving Dumbledore to ponder his next course of action.

"I'm sorry about that Remus. I didn't mean to get up and leave you but I couldn't be in that room with Dumbledore any longer."

"No worries Harry. It's been an emotional day for all of us. If you want me there when you read your parents will just let me know."

"Thanks Remus."

"Come on love. I think you could use some sleep." Nym said almost dragging Harry towards the Leaky Cauldron. Once there they floo'd to Grimmauld Place and went up to their room, avoiding everyone's questions about how it went.

Harry and Nym undressed and went to bed naked. The just laid in each others arms, not saying anything before finally succumbing to sleep an hour later.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: Life Changes**

Nym woke up around 2:00 a.m. the next morning to find Harry thrashing about in bed next to her. He wasn't screaming but he appeared to be in so much pain that he probably should have been.

"Harry wake up. Wake up love" Nym whispered while gently trying to shake him awake.

With a gasp Harry woke up and sat up in bed. He was still breathing a little harder than normal but didn't seem to be bothered by the contents of whatever nightmare he was having.

Nym reached over and placed her arms around him drawing him into her as she laid back down on their bed. "Are you ok?"

"I will be in a few minutes. He wasn't happy tonight."

"What do you mean?"

"Draco went to tell him that he failed. He doesn't tolerate failure very well." Nym could hold back the small gasp that escaped. There was no love lost between her family and the rest of her mum's relatives, but she still didn't like the thought of her husband having to witness all of the tortures that Voldemort deemed fit to show him.

"He used the cruciatus for almost 3 minutes solid and from what I gathered he was going to let Malfoy heal enough and then put him under it again and again. He wants to make sure that his other followers see the punishment for failure. Narcissa was standing behind him and just watching her son being tortured.

"I could feel the curse as if it were hitting me. Voldemort is growing stronger all of the time. His cruciatus wasn't nearly that powerful at the end of the third task."

"Oh Harry. I'm sorry you have to go through all of this," Nym cried. "Is there anything you need?"

"I just want to go back to sleep. I'm still tired believe it or not" Harry said with a wry chuckle. "The only thing I want to do is lay here, hold you, and go back to sleep."

"I think something like that can be arranged" Nym finished as the both fell into silence while staring into each other's eyes.

Slowly she watched as Harry fell back asleep and she soon followed.

Harry woke up a few hours later to see Nym getting out of bed and heading for the bathroom. He thought about it for about two seconds before he figured 'What the Hell'. He quietly got out of bed and followed her.

Tonks hadn't been able to fall asleep again after Harry had woken her up. She had just lain there, holding him in her arms, watching him sleep. Only when he was asleep did he look his true age. She still marveled at the fact that she was in an arranged marriage, of sorts, to a guy that was six years younger than her. Not to mention the fact that, arranged marriage or not, she had actually fallen in love with him.

She had grown accustomed to the fact that she may never actually fall in love with anyone. Too many bad experiences with men had left her with little hope of actually finding a good man. Yet here he was.

She climbed out of bed as gracefully as she could so as not to wake up Harry and headed for the bathroom. She decided that she wanted a shower today instead of a bath and climbed into to the stall.

She had barely turned on the water when she felt a pair of hands circle around her waist. She wasn't scared in the least when this happened. She knew that only she and Harry were able to be in the upstairs portion of the house.

Harry pulled her in closer to where she was practically molded against him. He proceeded to place light kisses against the back of her neck and along her shoulder.

"Morning, Love" Nym moaned out as she felt him work across her shoulders. She knew that a teenager's sex drive was supposed to be larger than adults were and she had a feeling that as their marriage progressed she would be able to confirm that with very little doubt in her mind.

Not that she was complaining. She loved having sex with her husband. Granted it had only been a few times but it was better than anything she had ever imagined. Growing up from being a teenager to a young adult her only release had come in the form of her own hand.

After the bachelor party she got her first taste of what is was like to achieve release through other means and it was beyond anything she thought possible. Then, on her wedding night, she never wanted it to end. The only thing that stopped them from continuing on all night was her becoming a little sore.

Her husband had been more than up to the task. She didn't have to wait more than ten minutes between sessions and he was still ready to go had it not been for her tenderness.

She also loved the fact that he understood when she couldn't go any longer and had no problem with allowing his 'problem' to go away by itself as the fell asleep in each others arms.

She was brought back to the present as she heard him moaning her name.

"Not now love." He groaned again, this time out of frustration. "Tonight, I promise. Maybe we can try out a few new things too, you never know."

"Easy for you to say. You got me all worked up. What am I supposed to do now" he exclaimed, pointing down at himself.

"First of all, I didn't do anything to get you worked up. All I did was come in to take a shower. You took it upon yourself to get worked up and now will suffer the consequences. As for what to do about that, take a cold shower after I am finished."

"What's the big rush this morning? I didn't realize we had anything planned."

"I figured you would want to go over everything listed in the wills. I also figured that we could get this finished early and do some experimenting with the rest of the afternoon and night. However, if you would rather lounge around and get nothing done today then I may just have to keep some of the experiments I had in mind safe for another day."

"No need to jump to conclusions, I was just curious." Harry muttered not wanting to miss out on whatever his wife had planned for the evening.

"I think the best thing to do is lay out both documents and then get a third to make a new listing of the combined estates."

"Can we make note on the new sheet what came from where? I would still like to know where everything came from" Harry asked.

"Sure thing love. Do you want me to make the complete list and then we can go over the complete one together?"

"That shouldn't be a problem. Are you trying to kick me out or something?"

"No, merely putting you to work. You get to make us breakfast while I make the list. I think it's a fair trade." Nym smiled causing Harry to roll his eyes.

"What would you like for breakfast?"

"Nothing fancy. Just bacon and eggs."

"I'll be back."

"How's it coming Nym?"

"I'm almost finished. I should be by the time you set the table."

"How am I supposed to set the table with you taking up half of it?" He joked.

"Oh, right" Nym said as she looked back at the papers and added a few more lines. "I'm finished. Now set the table. You know it isn't nice to keep a woman waiting."

"Even if it is her fault" Harry asked under his breath but apparently not quietly enough as he got a playful punch to the shoulder for his troubles.

"Yes, now hurry up with the food. All this reading has made me hungry."

Just after breakfast was finished, Nym took out her wand and cleaned the dishes and sent them back into the kitchen.

"I can't wait till I am of age and able to do magic."

"Earth to Harry" Nym joked. "Don't you remember the conversations we had about this? The wedding has emancipated you. After the ceremony was completed and the marriage consummated you were made a legal adult."

"Why?" Nym rolled her eyes.

"Because you are now responsible for your wife and family. If you get married before you reach legal age but after the age of consent then you are emancipated so that you can use all of your resources to protect your family and estate."

"Oh."

"Yes, oh. We can talk more about this later. I think it is time to go through this list although it may take awhile. I'm not sure you realize just what you own, Harry."

"We, Nym. We own." Harry corrected her and returned the smile that spread across her face.

She pulled out the list and set it between them as Harry moved his seat next to her.

_**Potter Family Estate**_

_**Liquid Assets: **_

_**Vault 32: Potter Family Vault – 604,090,858 Galleons (was 300,000,000before 15 years of interest.) **_

_**Vault 18: Black Family Vault- 1,203,430,495 Galleons (was 1,206,430,495 before 3,000,000 to Remus Lupin)**_

_**Vault 765: James Potter Personal Vault- 1,000,433 Galleons (15 years of accrued interest.)**_

_**Vault 711: Sirius Black Personal Vault- 895,532 Galleons (15 years of accrued interest minus small sums over the past 3years.)**_

_**Vault 795: Lily Evans Personal Vault- 603,326 Galleons (15 years of accrued interest.)**_

_**Vault 687: Harry Potter Trust Vault- 3,964,390 Galleons (3,000,000 Initial with regular school fee withdrawals, plus interest.)**_

_**Total Money Assets: 1,813,985,034 **_

_**Ownerships in Businesses:**_

_**Wizarding Business: **_

_**Daily Prophet 45 percent- Black Family**_

_**Daily Prophet 15 percent- Potter Family**_

_**Gladrags of Hogsmeade 10 percent- Potter Family**_

_**Auguries Apothecary 10 percent- Potter Family**_

_**Quidditch and More (France) 15 percent- Potter family **_

_**The Darker Side of Life (Bookstore in Knockturn Alley) 25 percent- Black Family**_

_**Poisons and More Apothecary (Knockturn Alley) 12 percent- Black Family**_

_**Estimated Value of Stock Holdings: 230,331,059 Galleons**_

_**Muggle Business:**_

_**The Ritz of London 49 percent- Black Family**_

_**The Ritz of Paris 52 percent- Black Family**_

_**The Belvedere (Restaurant) 25 percent- Potter Family**_

_**Grunnings International Drills 100 percent- Potter Family**_

_**Mercedes-Benz of Europe 5 percent- Black Family**_

_**DaimlerChrysler AG 75 percent- Potter Family**_

_**Estimated Value of Stock Holdings: 654,010,231 Galleons**_

_**Total Estimate Value of Stock Holdings: 884,341,290**_

_**Properties:**_

**_Black Family: Black Family Ancestral Home- Unknown Location London_**

_**Black Manor- 15 Cour Drive France**_

_**Sirius' Apartment- 78 Main Street Hogsmeade**_

_**Potter Family: Potter Family Ancestral Home- 1 Gryffindor Drive, Godric's Hollow**_

_**Potter Castle (Previously Gryffindor Castle) - Scotland country-side**_

_**Potter Manor- Scotland country-side**_

_**Lily Evans family home- 11 Pine Drive, Little Whinging Surrey**_

_**Extended family homes no longer in use:**_

_**24 Park Street, Bristol**_

_**10 St. Thomas Street, Bristol**_

_**16 McCold Way, London**_

_**12 Browning Street, Birmingham**_

_**32 Eldon Street, Sheffield**_

_**Black Family Property Liquid Value: 2,003,679 Galleons**_

_**Potter Family Property Liquid Value: 12,049,374 Galleons**_

_**Potter Family: Extended Family Property Liquid Value: 1,552,993 Galleons**_

_**Total Property Liquid Value: 15,606,064 Galleons**_

_**Black and Potter Vaults also contain numerous paintings, books, statues, weapons, furniture, ect.**_

_**Black Vault Heirlooms Liquid Value: 20,034,257 Galleons**_

_**Potter Vault Heirlooms Liquid Value: 18,405,321 Galleons**_

_**Total Vault Heirlooms Liquid Value: 38,439,578 Galleons**_

_**Total Liquid Value of The New Potter Estate: 2,752,371,966 Galleons**_

_**Converted to Muggle Money at The Current Exchange Rate of 1 Galleon to 23 Pounds: 63,304,555,218 Pounds Sterling or 115,138,588,310.24 USD.**_

"Holy Shit" Harry exclaimed when they finished going over the assets that he and his wife now owned.

"You can say that again. Now you can buy me anything that I want."

"Is that why you married me, for my money?" He joked.

"Of course not. Although that it is an added bonus if I do say so myself." Nym smiled. "And the thought of the Billionaire making his own breakfast this morning is priceless."

"Not to mention the Billionaire being locked in a cupboard and beaten for most of his life."

Nym got up and set on her husbands lap. "They will pay for what the have done to you. You no longer need their blood protection and you are allowed to do magic outside of school. Not to mention that you own 100 percent of his company.

"I must say that is an interesting situation considering it is the only business you own flat out. I wonder if your parents were the cause of his getting the job in the first place."

"I don't know Nym, but thank you for being here with me."

"I will always be here with you now."

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Harry voiced a concern he was having about their future. "What are we going to do when I go back to Hogwarts?"

"I've been doing some thinking about that myself.

"I want to run an idea by you that I talked to Dumbledore about." She decided to hurry her explanation seeing that he wasn't happy about her going to Dumbledore first.

"I had to talk to him before you because; if he denied my request then it was pointless to tell you about it."

"What's the idea" Harry asked calming down a little.

"I want to know if you are willing to do some training with me over the summer.

"I have applied at the ministry to take a sabbatical and work at Hogwarts with a group of three other Order members as a security team for the castle.

"What I want to do, only if you are willing, is to train you in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, and Charms. You already know all of the first through sixth year material for the most part. The main thing now would be concentrating on knowing all of the information through seventh year well enough to pass your NEWT's."

"I wish you would have asked me about this first."

"Nothing is set in stone yet Harry. It was all based on whether or not you accepted what I am proposing to you right now. There is a little bit more that you must hear before making any decisions. I'm sorry for you feeling a little betrayed because of this but I am not sorry for thinking this through and I think you will understand when I am finished."

"What else is there to add, other than taking my NEWT's two years early?"

"If you choose to pass those classes you have two options available to you that would make living arrangements in the castle a little nicer for both of us.

"If you pass all three NEWT's, which I have no doubt that you will after this summer, you will be able to choose from one of three options.

"The first option is that you stay a student with three classes, live in Gryffindor tower, and play quidditch like you normally would do.

"The second option is that you take three classes, drop quidditch, become a part time member of the security team and live with me in private quarters provided to staff.

"The third option, and the one I like the best, is that you will be an Assistant Professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts, with Kingsley being the Professor. You will still take potions and one other class of your choice. You will live in the private quarters with me and will not be allowed to play quidditch.

"The upsides to the last one are this. I know you hate Snape and I hate him too. You will not be taking potions from him. I will be teaching you potions. I can also be your teacher in the one other subject you choose as long as it isn't Care of Magical Creatures. I would recommend taking the pre-owl courses for Ancient Runes.

"You would also be able to take and give house points as if you were a prefect. You will be required to attend staff meetings. You will be able to give detentions as long as they are approved by another professor. You will not be a student at Hogwarts so the rules and curfew will not apply to you. I guess that pretty much covers it."

"I see why you thought this would be a good idea but I still have a few questions about it."

"Go ahead."

"Why did Dumbledore agree to any of this?"

"Dumbledore wants to make up for some of his past mistakes. He also feels that since you and I were thrown into this marriage to save his Order that he should be willing to make some sacrifices of his own to compensate for that."

"He doesn't really owe me anything as far as that is concerned. I wouldn't change anything about this last month."

"Me either love. Me either, but it doesn't hurt to have him believe he owes us either since it got him to agree to this."

"That's true. Now, for my other question. Why won't I be considered a Hogwarts student?"

"That's simple. You will be employed by Hogwarts but your classes will be taught by me instead of a teacher at Hogwarts. Think of it as an independent study or something like that."

"How long have you been planning this? You really thought everything out."

"I started planning this when I saw how quickly you were moving through the sixth year material a few days ago."

"I love you, do you know that?"

"I love you too Harry."

"Now what was it that you were saying about experimentation?" Harry whispered in her ear as he started to nibble on it.

"Since you enlightened me as to how you knew so much about what to do in bed I couldn't just let you know everything and have all of the fun. I went out and got a 'guide' of my own. It comes highly recommended and I was able to have it owled in even though it is a muggle book."

"Is that so? Have you had a chance to look at the book yet?"

"I've flipped through it once or twice. I think we should be able to have some fun tonight." Nym said as she dragged Harry into their bedroom and pulled out a book from under the mattress. Harry barely had time to see the title of book before Tonks flipped it open to a page and started telling him what to do. Harry was sure that he was going to like the book _"The Kama Sutra."_

Harry lay naked next to his sleeping wife trying to comprehend just how many different ways there were to have sex. He never would have guessed some of those positions possible but 'they sure were fun as hell to try' he thought to himself.

They had finished going over everything in the will and had their talk about his training finished by 12:30 and yet they still didn't fall asleep until almost midnight. Nym had apparently adjusted a little bit better to him and wasn't as sore this time as she was the first night or second day. She held out as long as he did and, while not exactly sore, he was sure that he didn't have it in him to keep going any longer that night.

It was almost 8:00 in the morning and he had barely awakened and Nym showed small signs of stirring but not actually waking. He sighed knowing that he would have to have a talk with the headmaster today. How could he possibly pass up the opportunity to get out of classes with Snape and spend his nights with his wife while finishing up school?

Nym would also have to wake up soon. She would have to go and confirm her request for time away from the ministry. Not to mention she needed to pursue the lawsuit she intended to file against Delores Umbridge for the use of a blood quill on him. He hoped that everything would go alright. Nothing bad seemed to have happened to him lately and that never lasted for long.

He started running his hands up and down his wife's stomach hoping to stir her awake without just shaking her. She rolled over in his arms and slowly opened her eyes. Her beautiful teal colored eyes. He was glad that she always stayed in her natural form when they were alone. He thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world when she looked like that.

"Time to wake up. We wasted all day yesterday and now we need to get some stuff done."

"I wouldn't call it wasting yesterday. I thought we learned a few interesting things with the promise of much more to come." She answered with a mischievous glint in her eye.

"Ok, so it wasn't wasted. I have to admit that I enjoyed putting the new information to good use."

"I'm sure you did." She said dryly.

"Yeah, like you can actually lay there and deny that it wasn't any fun. If I remember correctly it was you who wanted to try the last one even though it was supposed to be painful to begin with. I also recall that towards the end you enjoyed it a lot more than seemed possible."

"Caught." She grinned sheepishly. "You can't say that it wasn't interesting to try."

"I never actually thought much about women before you. I went on one date with Cho Chang and I can honestly say that I never thought of sodomizing her."

"You weren't complaining last night though were you?"

"I think that we should choose another topic. Lets agree on the fact that last night was fun and that we look forward to more and then move on to the topic of what we need to get accomplished today."

"Since when are you the responsible take charge kind of guy? I seem to remember you always asking what I wanted to do everyday and doing whatever I said."

"Yes well, I have been awake for a little while and I think it would be best to get the details finalized so I can start training. After all, if you don't go to the Ministry and get the sabbatical approved then you can't train me. Then what?"

"I guess you are right, this time." She added with a grin and jumped out of bed before he could retaliate by tickling her as he had become accustomed to doing.

Harry couldn't help but notice that neither one of had worn anything to sleep in since their wedding night. He also couldn't help but notice that neither one of them were shy in the least to see each other walk around naked. It had just become habit to go to sleep naked and not wear anything at all until they were showered for the day.

He knew that they were developing new habits and none of them could be considered bad. They had also not taken a shower/bath alone since they were married and that thought caused him to jump out of bed and hurry into the bathroom to meet Nym. Couldn't start breaking habits already, could he?

Tonks set in the office of her immediate superior Madam Bones and they were waiting for the arrival of the Minister of Magic.

She had arrived fifteen minutes ago and enquired about her request and was told that the Minister wished to speak with her first. So there they sat and waited. She had never had a problem with Madam Bones but they had never had a real conversation either.

It was almost another twenty minutes before Cornelius Fudge arrived with his assistant Percy Weasley.

"Ms. Tonks, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Mrs. Potter."

"Excuse me?"

"I thought it was common knowledge that I was engaged to Harry Potter?"

"Engaged yes, married no."

"That really isn't the issue here. I would like to know why I must speak with you before getting my sabbatical approved. I was under the impression that Madam Bones was allowed to authorize them."

"Quite right normally. The issue we have here is about the death of one Sirius Orion Black." Fudge stated, while Percy busily scribbled everything down on his notepad.

"What does this have to do with my request?" Tonks asked, afraid of where this was heading.

"Nothing actually. I arranged for you to have to see me before this was approved to talk to you about Mr. Black. Your leave from the ministry has been approved. It is to our knowledge that you are of blood relation to him and are likely to inherit something of his estate. I wanted to inform you ahead of time that it will not be happening."

"I'm not sure I know what you mean Minister."

"The Ministry of Magic has passed a new law yesterday morning in response to the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. The ministry will be seizing all funds and properties of known Death Eaters. This will include the Black Estate. The funds will be used to fight the war against You-Know-Who."

"Are you serious?" She yelled. "First you imprison the man when he is innocent and now after he is dead you are trying to take everything else that left behind to line your own pockets."

"Now see here, Ms. Tonks-"

"Mrs. Potter."

"Whatever. Sirius Black was proven guilt of being the Dark Lords right hand man and betraying the Potters to him. If anything you should be happy I am doing this for your fiancé. The man that betrayed his family will be funding the fight to destroy the evil being that actually killed his parents."

"For the last time, Harry Potter is my husband. I also know quite well what would be good for him and it sure isn't you trying to line your own pockets with something that you have no right to."

"As the Minister of Magic, my new law stands and there is nothing you can do about it. You would do well to remember your place, Auror."

"I am no Auror for this ministry anymore." She turns to Madam Bones. "Madam Bones, I know you are more competent than the fool standing behind me. I am resigning from my position as an Auror for the British Ministry of Magic effective immediately. I am sure you can understand my reason for not giving the courtesy of a two weak notice."

She spun back around after receiving the acknowledgement of her resignation from her boss. "As for you, you poor excuse for a human being" Tonks began changing her hair blood red and her eyes to a completely black color. "You would do well to know when you are no longer in a position of power. You had your chance to make right the mistakes you have made over the last year and a half.

"Instead all you have accomplished are even more mistakes. These mistakes will be the end of your career. My husband and Albus Dumbledore are going to make your nightmares from the last year come true. I can almost guarantee after this little law makes it way to their ears it will be the end of your tenure as Minister. I suggest you start packing for a stay in Azkaban."

"You will show the Minister for Magic the proper respect or I will have you arrested." Percy said angrily.

"On what charges? I can assure you that during my time as an Auror no law was made known to me about having to respect an arse.

"Speaking of charges. I would like to formally file chargers against Delores Jane Umbridge and Cornelius Oswald Fudge on behalf of Harry James Potter, Madam Bones."

"Please have a seat and continue." Madam Bones replied hoping against everything that her ex-employee had evidence to back up the charges.

"You can't do this."

"I assure you she can Minister Fudge. I must ask you to wait outside while these proceedings take place. It is against regulations, that even you can't break, that when charges are filed it is handled between the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the party filing charges."

"Now see here-"

"Leave now Minister Fudge or charges will be filed against you for hindering the Law Enforcement Process and I can assure you there are more than enough witnesses here to make sure that charge sticks."

"Now, please continue Mrs. Potter."

"Thank you.

"I want to file charges against Minister for Magic, Cornelius Oswald Fudge, for: purposefully hindering the war effort for personal gain, slander against Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore and Harry James Potter, knowingly filing false charges against an underage wizard, misappropriation of Ministry resources in the case of convening the entire Wizengamot for a trial for underage magic, being an accessory to an attempted cruciatus curse on a student at Hogwarts by a Ministry and Hogwarts employee, being an accomplice to sending dementors into a muggle neighborhood with the intent of administering the dementors kiss to an underage wizard.

"I want to file the following charges against Undersecretary to the Minister and Hogwarts High Inquisitor, Delores Jane Umbridge: ordering two dementors of Azkaban to administer the dementor's kiss with the approval by the minister for magic, having possession of a ministry controlled device, forcing students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to write lines using a blood quill, attempted use of the cruciatus curse against Harry James Potter, and the misappropriation of ministry resources to further her own agenda."

"That certainly was a bit more than I expected. And judging from the looks on the Minister's face as well as that of his assistant that the eavesdropping charm was successful and he is not happy about what he heard. I will add to the list of charges that he was using illegal magic to eavesdrop on an official magical law enforcement conversation, and that charge will also apply to Mr. Weasley." Madam Bones watched as the soon to be Ex-Minister for Magic stormed out of the area with Percy following behind.

"I do hope that you have the evidence to back up these claims."

"I have witnessed all of these events in a pensieve while viewing my husband's memories. I will talk to him about allowing the memories to be shared with the Wizengamot. You can also have his testimony as well as mine under Veritaserum I would assume.

"While this is going on I would like to know if we can get Sirius Black's name cleared of all charges. I will be able to provide the proof of his innocence too."

"This is most shocking Mrs. Potter. I will officially file these charges immediately and inform you and your husband of the court date.

"On a side note I would like to congratulate you on your wedding and I will miss seeing you around the office, even if we never really spoke.

"Good luck to you Mrs. Potter and have a nice day."

"Thank you." Nym took to dismissal as she normally would and left to go talk to her husband. They needed to get to Gringotts to make sure that the new law wouldn't affect them. She knew it shouldn't since it was passed after the will had been executed, not to mention the fact that the goblins wouldn't honor the new law.

While his wife went to take care of her request at the ministry, Harry Potter was in the office of the Headmaster of Hogwarts. He didn't really like this room anymore. He had spent way to much time there for not being an employee of the school.

"What can I do for you today, Mr. Potter" Dumbledore asked.

"I was told that my wife has come to you to discuss possibilities for the upcoming school year."

Dumbledore just hooked his fingers and leaned forward without saying a word.

"I have come to a decision.

"I would like to train with Nym over the summer and take my NEWT's, before school starts, in Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Charms.

"I would also like to take the position of Assistant Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, if that is still an option."

"It is still an option.

"Tell me, young Harry, have you thought everything through? Are you truly certain that this is what you want to do?"

"I'm not playing games old man. This is my life we are talking about. Of course I have thought this through. I thought you had learned not to try and force me to do things anymore."

"I am not forcing you to do anything. I can understand why it may seem that way but it is not my intention.

"I was merely concerned of the fact that you will have next to no time to spend with your friends anymore. They will be in classes all day and doing their homework and other activities at night while you are being tutored by your wife and working for the school."

"I had thought of that. I realize that I am growing apart from my friends. I will always be friends with them, that will never change, but Nym is my future. I love her, as crazy as it may seem since this was, more or less, an arranged marriage but I assure you it is the truth. I will always have friends but she is my life. The things I do now are not only for me but for her as well. I can't be selfish in my decisions anymore."

"You have shown a great deal of maturity here today Harry. I am very proud of you.

"If this is your wish then it can be arranged. I think it would be best to sort out some of the details now.

"You will be a staff member and will be paid accordingly. You will be required to eat your meals at the staff table at least the majority of the time. You will be sharing quarters with your wife. They will be slightly larger than the rest of the staff quarters since there are two of you.

"You will be able to take and remove house points like any other teacher as well as give detentions. The only difference is that you will have to have the detentions approved by another staff member.

"You and Kingsley will have to have a chat at some point later this summer as to what schedule you will use to teach from.

"I think that covers almost everything that I had to say. The only condition placed on all of this is that you try and be discreet in your relationship with your wife. While most people will know about it, it will not be a good idea to go around flaunting it. And of course this will only happen if you place an acceptable or above in the NEWT's that you are taking."

"Thank you for allowing me to be able to be close to my wife. I don't think splitting us apart for ten months just after the wedding would do either of us any good."

"Your welcome. I agree and that was a major factor in my decision to allow this. I am glad that you are able to work past some of your anger at me and hopefully allow me to start repairing the damage I have caused to our relationship."

"I think it is-"Harry cut himself off quickly as he saw his wife's concerned face floating in the fireplace.

"What happened?"

"Fudge happened."

"What do you mean Mrs. Potter?"

"Fudge held my paper so he would have a chance to 'have a discussion with me.'

"He said the he wanted to talk to me since I was a blood relative of Sirius and that a new law he just passed would affect anyone inheriting from the estate and he wanted to let me know ahead of time."

"What new law is he talking about? It didn't come to the Wizengamot for approval."

"He said it passed yesterday. He created a law that would seize all known death eater's assets and the ministry would take control of them and use the money to fund the war against Voldemort.

"When I argued with him about Sirius being innocent he just told me to know my place in the ministry and not to question him Needless to say I didn't take that too well and I quit my job at the ministry."

She said the last part looking at Harry and hoping he would understand. He looked lost in thought but when he noticed her watching he gave her a reassuring smile.

"It's not like you will need the money anytime soon."

"I know. I also filed formal charges against Minister Fudge and Delores Umbridge." She looked at Harry again as she said this. It was obvious that he would need to provide the proof since everything involved him.

"I know what I have to do to see this through and I will."

"You both realize that we must watch the position of minister very closely now, don't you?" Dumbledore asked.

"What do you mean Headmaster?"

"I mean, Mrs. Potter, that when the evidence is shown against Cornelius and Delores, the position for Minister for Magic will become vacant. This could possibly allow a death eater to take the job."

Nym looked horrified at the trouble she could have caused.

"Not to worry. I think that with some careful consideration and public backing from myself and, possibly, your husband that we can make sure the correct person is elected to replace Cornelius." Dumbledore assure both of them. There was not point in getting angry as it couldn't change the past and it was now an opportunity, no matter how shaky, that they could get a good Minister for Magic elected.

"If you don't mind Headmaster I would like to take Harry and make a quick stop at Gringotts just to verify that this law that just passed wont affect us."

"Understandably so. I will see both of you soon."

"One more thing, professor." Harry interrupted. Nym and I are going to spend the rest of the time training and will probably decide on a house to live in permanently. Will you be willing to set up some wards around the place and possibly allow us to employ a few of Hogwarts house elves for a week this summer? It would make the initial clean up the place much quicker and allow us to move in and give you the top floor of your headquarters back."

"That shouldn't be a problem Harry. I believe there are two house elves here at Hogwarts that would like to work with you permanently. I will send them by later this evening to talk to you."

"Thank you, sir." Harry said as he waited for Nym to back out of the fireplace before flooing to Gringotts.

Harry met Nym at the Leaky Cauldron, since it is the closest floo connection to Gringotts, and they made their way hand in hand to the bank. They arrived there within five minutes and asked a teller if they could speak to Tenhook. The goblin walked away with a sneer and came back a few minutes later with Tenhook.

"Good day Mr. and Mrs. Potter. I did not expect to see you so soon. Please follow me to my office." He led them through the massive corridors at Gringotts. Harry was sure that no matter how many times he walked them he would never remember his way.

"Now, what can I do for the two of you today?" Harry figured that he was only being polite due to some order from Smithook.

"My wife came across some information that the Ministry of Magic has passed a new law that will seize all known Death Eaters' assets. She also heard that it was passed yesterday and that Minister Fudge wanted to let her know that they would be seizing everything Sirius owned.

"I know that the law was passed after Sirius' will was executed but I would like to make sure nothing has changed."

"I am not aware of any law that the ministry passed but if you would wait here for a second while I talk to Smithook I can answer your question." The goblin disappeared out of the door before waiting for an answer.

"I just thought of something Nym."

"What's that love?"

"Now that you aren't working for the ministry and will be working at the same place as I am we will have plenty of time to try out all of those new positions the book listed."

Nym swatted at his shoulder and he heard her mumble something like, 'Why would we have to wait until Hogwarts to try out the rest of the positions, there was still plenty of time left in the summer.'

Harry chose not to comment since he wasn't one hundred percent sure that he was supposed to hear that.

Tenhook walked in the door a few moments later. "Smithook assures me that no matter what the Ministry law says, he will not hand over anything to them. He assures me that your money is quite safe where it is."

"Thank you for your time Tenhook. We will take our leave now since my wife would like to discuss some positions she had on her mind." Harry tried his hardest to keep a straight face as he said this as he saw he wife duck her head and blush crimson.

"Something the matter Nym? You started blushing awfully hard when I mentioned going over the information for our new jobs at Hogwarts."

"You prat. That wasn't what you meant and you know it."

"I may know that and you may know that but Tenhook had no idea what I was talking about, did he?"

"I'll get you for that."

"Cant wait Nym. Cant wait."

"I think it would be best if we chose a house to live in tonight if at all possible, so that Dumbledore and the house elves can get started on making it usable."

"Good idea love."

"Is there any way that we can view them without having to travel there?"

"Just tap your wand twice on the name of the property you wish to see and a model of the area shows up above the parchment."

They had spent the next three hours looking over everything they could about each house and were narrowing down the decisions.

"I don't want to live in a castle or in the middle of a city. I want peace and quite. Nobody around for miles."

"You just want to live at Potter Manor because of the lake. You weren't nearly as interested in any of the other houses once you saw the lake."

"Your point being?"

"I don't really have one I suppose. I like that house the best anyways. It's not huge but it was not a shack either. It also has a lot of empty space available so that we can go flying."

Potter Manor was a large house. Certainly larger than Privet Drive and Mr. and Mrs. Tonks' house combined but it wasn't huge like Potter Castle. The manor house sat on 2,000 acres of forest and grassland with a lake about half the size of the lake at Hogwarts.

The manor set in the very center of property right next to the lake. It was a two story house with 10 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms. The bedrooms were all on the second story with the exception of the master suite which was on the ground floor overlooking the lake.

Nobody had lived in Potter Manor for almost 300 years. Most of the younger generations preferred to be closer to their friends and other extended family in the cities. The house would need a lot of work to make it livable but they were sure they could have it ready by the end of summer.

As soon as they had made their decision Dobby and Winky popped into their living area. Dobby was jumping up and down trying to latch on to Harry's legs while Winky solemnly waited to be addressed. Once Harry calmed Dobby down enough he addressed both of them.

"Professor Dumbledore tells me that both of you would like to work for me. Is this correct?"

"Yes sir."

"Yes Harry Potter sir. We's be lovin to work for you."

"I have a question for both of you before we begin.

"Would you like to be employed by me or bound to my family?"

"Bound." They both yelled. Harry had expected Winky to want to be bound to his family since she hated the idea of being paid, but he hadn't guessed Dobby would too. He shrugged it off. He wouldn't treat them bad and it was their choice to begin with.

"Ok, let's get started then. First I want to introduce both of you to my gorgeous wife. Nym Potter meet Dobby and Winky, Dobby and Winky meet Nym Potter." He said as he pointed to each in turn.

"When can the two of you start working for us?"

"We's can start working now Harry Potter sir."

"Just Harry, please. When can the other elves I enquired about help out to set up our new house?"

"Professor Dumblydore say that elves can help as soon as you need them since nobodies is staying in the castle."

"Thank you Dobby.

"If I show you the information on the house will you two be able to show the others how to get there?"

"Yes sir Harry." Harry just rolled his eyes knowing that was the best his name situation would ever be with the hyperactive elf.

"Here is where we will be living. For now we just want it cleaned up and made livable. We will worry about redecorating and landscaping sometime later on.

"Do you need anything before you get started tomorrow?"

"No, sir Harry. We's will start work tonight and we have everything we's will be needing." With that both house elves disappeared from their room.

"I think that they will be an 'interesting' addition to our family."

"I couldn't agree more Nym."

"Its still early and I can think of a few things to occupy our time before we start your training tomorrow."

"What exactly do you have in mind?"

"Come with me and I'll show you."


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: Getting Situated**

It was the first day of Harry's training and so far he didn't know if Nym was trying to kill him or not. The first thing she made him do when they woke up was to take a potion that she had her mother procure from an apothecary in Diagon Alley. Harry was small for his age and he knew it. He knew that the Dursley's treatment of him while he was growing, stunted his growth. The potion was supposed to aid in the muscle development and starts to repair some of the malnutrition damage.

It wasn't a miracle potion, in the sense that it didn't work overnight, but it required physical training and proper eating to work its course. Nym ordered Dobby to make Harry a big breakfast. The only problem with that was that she was not accustomed to Dobby. To Dobby a normal breakfast for two could feed four adults or Dudley. So the large breakfast she asked for could feed six fully grown wizards.

Harry sat down to breakfast with Nym and Dobby. It took a little bit of coaxing to get Dobby to accept any breakfast at the same table as them. Harry inquired as to how the house was coming and was shocked to learn that the elves had worked all night long and had the entire bottom floor of the manor completely cleaned. Dobby told them that the elves were working in shifts and expected to finish the house later that evening.

Harry and Nym thanked Dobby before setting off to start his physical training. Nym made a schedule that would make it easiest to complete everything. Everyday they would wake up seven in the morning and get ready for the day. They would eat breakfast at 7:30 and start physical training by 8:00. They would take a portkey to Hogwarts to do his physical training until they could get moved into Potter Manor. They needed a large amount of open space to be able to run and the lake also provided another cardiovascular workout.

The running and swimming would last from 8:00 to 10:30 at which time they would portkey back to Grimmauld Place and clean up to have an early lunch. After lunch they would begin the magical training. They would spend 12:00 to 1:00 on teaching Harry to apparate and then continue learning Advanced Charms, Transfiguration, and DADA. His knowledge in these would far exceed the NEWT level by the end of the summer.

After Harry completed his apparition lesson he was supposed to move on to Occlumency training. Nym had bought a book that would teach them the basics of clearing their minds and building simple mental shields. It would not block Voldemort but it would start them in the right direction.

So it was 5:00 on the end of his first day of training and all he wanted to do was to go into the bedroom and go to sleep. It was clear that Nym felt the same way but she still seemed to have other plans.

"No sleep yet love" She said.

"Why not he mumbled" face down in the couch.

"We have one more thing that needs to be done today."

"The schedule says this is free time" Harry mumbled again

"Yes well do it for me then. Come on." She said as she dragged him out of their living quarters.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see." She pulled him downstairs to the entrance for the kitchen and pushed him through the door.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!" Harry stood there in a state of shock. He had been so busy with his marriage and the will readings that he totally forgot about his birthday. Not to mention this would be the first birthday party he ever had. He just couldn't figure out why they were even doing this since his birthday was almost a week ago.

"What's going on?"

"We never got a chance to celebrate your birthday. You seemed to disappear after the wedding and didn't show up again until right before the will reading. We didn't have any time." Hermione was the one to answer his question.

The kitchen was full of the entire Order of the Phoenix as well as Hermione and Ginny. Apparently they had set up his birthday party to happen right before an Order meeting. The only person that didn't sit at the table to partake in the festivities was Professor Snape. He was seen glowering in the corner of the room.

"Come over here, Harry dear, and take a seat." Mrs. Weasley said as she led him over to the head of the table. Nym followed them over and took a seat to her husband's left hand side.

"You guys know you didn't have to do this, right?"

"Don't blame us, blame her. It was her idea." Hermione stated with not so discreetly pointing her finger at Nym.

"You never had a proper birthday party and I think it's about time that you did." She responded nonchalantly.

"I love you, you know."

"I love you too." She replied with a kiss. "Now, enjoy your party and gifts."

Following her statement Harry had one of the best meals that he could ever remember, though he seriously doubted it had anything to do with how it was cooked. All tiredness was forgotten as he spent the evening talking with his friends and holding his wife. He got his usual gifts from his friends; a book from Hermione about Auror training, candy from Ron and the rest of the Weasleys, prank items from the twins, and a second photo album from Remus.

Remus pulled him aside for a few minutes to explain the purpose of the album and why he hadn't received it before.

"That photo album was one that I had been working on during my stay at Hogwarts and afterwards too. I never had any friends before Hogwarts because of my disease, so I cherished the memories I had with his first real friends. After James and Lily died and Sirius went to Azkaban, I put the album in storage and never planned to look at it again.

"I found it late last year and Sirius helped me to fix it up. That was his project to help keep him sane while he wasted away here. He spent months on this thing. It had spent the better part of fifteen years locked away in a box and it was almost ruined.

"He took each picture out one at a time and repaired all of them to look as if they were taken yesterday. He told me once that it took him three weeks of searching in the library to find the charms to do it.

"After he repaired all of the pictures he made three copies of them. The original photos and the original album are the present I am giving to you now. Sirius kept one copy and he gave me the other. We were both going to give this one to you for your birthday and I think he would approve of me giving it to you even if he isn't here."

Harry looked at the aging werewolf with tears in his eyes. He tried several times to say something but no sound ever came out.

"I know pup, I know." Remus said, pulling Harry into a tight hug. "I have to take off for a while. The full moon is in a few days and I need to be somewhere safe.

"Happy birthday Harry and good luck with your training."

"Thanks Moony." Harry managed to choke out as the werewolf apparated away. Had Remus stayed any longer Harry would have noticed the tears forming in his eyes due to the fact that for the first time he could remember, Harry had called him Moony.

Everyone except Nym had gone off to bed while Harry and Remus were in the hall talking.

"Professor Dumbledore stopped by for a minute to drop this off." Nym said while tossing an envelope to her husband.

"What is it?"

"I think it's your school letter and OWL results. He gave a similar letter to Ron and Hermione."

"Why am I getting a school letter? I thought we agreed on my being an assistant professor and you would be in charge of my tutoring?"

"We did. I guess it was a force of habit to say that a school letter came with the test scores."

"Are you ready for bed Nym?"

"Yeah, I think I am." She replied trying to stifle a yawn. "I'm sorry I couldn't get you anything for your birthday. It was hard enough trying to tell people to plan a party without you knowing."

Harry just smiled at her. "You gave me more than you can ever know. And technically you gave the best present that you could have ever given anybody on their birthday."

"And what would that be Mr. Potter?"

"You gave yourself to me on our wedding night. That is something you can only give once and it means more to me than you will ever know that you gave me that gift."

Nym tried her best to hide her tears but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't stop them from falling. "I love you so much Harry. I…"

No more words were needed between the two of them as Harry led his wife upstairs to their rooms. OWL scores long forgotten.

The morning when Harry and Nym descended the stairs to join the rest of the group for breakfast, Harry was met by an extremely hyperactive house elf.

Dobby popped in just as they were sitting down for breakfast and looked fit to burst with excitement. "Master Harry Potter sir, I is coming to inform you and your pink lady that your house is being finished."

"Pink lady?" Harry asked choking back a laugh at Nym's affronted look. "Just call her Nym and call me Harry."

"I is trying Ma- Harry sir. I is not meaning to insult Miss Nym."

"I don't think you insulted her but it's easier for everyone if you just call us by our first names."

"Ok. Your house is being finished. Me, Winky and the others worked all night and the house is complete. We is even putting in the furniture and stocking the kitchens."

"Thank you for your help Dobby and tell the others that I am eternally grateful for their help as well. We will take a look at the house this evening. Can you see if Professor Dumbledore can start on the wards as soon as possible?" Dobby nodded and bowed before he popped out of the house.

"Ha-"

"Dobby and Winky asked if they could work for us and we hired them. The other elves are employees of Hogwarts and were asked if the could help get our house set up so we can have a place to live outside of here. We don't have any slaves working for us." Nym interrupted knowing all to well how Hermione would react to Dobby's appearance.

"Now, I think Harry and I need to hurry up and eat since we only have about fifteen minutes to go until we start training for the day.

"Here love," Nym said passing Harry a piece of parchment. "I wrote out a timetable for what we are going to be working on so it will be easier to keep track of the schedule."

"Thanks." Harry said as he set the timetable next to his plate. He was grateful to have a written schedule since he was sure that he would forget everything otherwise.

**Harry's Training**

**7:00: Wake up and Shower**

**7:30: Eat Breakfast**

**8:00: Physical Training; Running, Swimming, Weight Lifting**

**10:30: Shower and Change Clothes**

**11:00: Eat Lunch**

**12:00: Apparition/Occlumency lessons**

**1:00: Advanced Charms/Transfiguration/Defense Against the Dark Arts**

**5:00: Dinner**

Dumbledore met two very exhausted future employees of his at their new home that evening. He was a little surprised at the fact that the elves had already finished the house but he chalked it up to them wanting to satisfy their boredom during the summer months. He took a moment to admire the manor and the grounds that the new couple had chosen to make their home and he was quite impressed.

The grounds reminded him strongly of Hogwarts. There was a huge forest off to the west side of the land the came up to the edge of the lake. The lake itself wasn't as big as the one at Hogwarts but it was impressive just the same. However the most impressive part was the open grassland on the east side of the manor.

The grasslands went as far as the eye could see. It would make the perfect area to fly around on brooms or hold large family gatherings and such. The only downside he could see to the entire property is that it was going to take a massive amount of magical strength to erect the wards.

The fidelius and other wards that were specific to the actual house would be easy to place. The problem was the placing the muggle repellent wards, proximity wards, and anti-apparition and portkey wards around the entire property. He could only hope that both Harry and Nym had saved a little bit of strength to help with the wards.

Once he was finished with his musings he approached the couple who seemed ignorant to his appearance. He cleared his throat to get their attention.

Harry was startled out of his 'Nym-induced' stupor and looked towards the headmaster.

"This is a very nice place you have chosen, Mr. and Mrs. Potter."

"Thank you sir. Nym liked this one the best and who am I to argue with what a beautiful woman wants."

"Indeed, Mr. Potter. I hope that the two of you aren't too tired as I am going to require your help in setting up the wards. It happens to be a little bit larger than I thought it would be."

"We should be able to lend a hand Albus." Nym said.

"Excellent lets get this part finished and then you too can enjoy your new home."

An hour and a half later the wards were fully in place and keyed to both Harry and Nym. Only they could enter and leave the property freely. Everyone else would require their permission.

Only Harry and Nym were allowed to apparate directly to the manor everyone else had to go to an apparition point and then they would have to cross the wards to get inside the property. Harry and Nym could key in other to the wards to enter as they please but they would still have to use the apparition point.

Dumbledore made Harry the secret keeper and suggested that they not stray too far from their home until they had a good solid understanding of Occlumency to prevent somebody from gaining information as to where they lived.

Dumbledore declined the tour of the house, stating that he had some business to attend to for the Order. He invited Harry and Nym to the next Order meeting which was in a week. He was hoping that by then Harry would have made up his mind about whether or not he wanted to join the Order.

"Dobby!" Nym called out to the hyper little elf.

"Dobby is here miss."

"Could you show us around the manor please? We only had a little diagram of what it would look like so it would be nice to see the whole thing."

"Yes miss. Dobby be showing yous around your house. Follow me."

The whole bottom floor of the manor was the public portion of the house. The door opened up into the formal sitting room which was about half the size of the great hall. Everything in there was very elegant, as if you were attending to a royal family or such. All of the furniture was covered in velvet covers and all of the tables were made of hardwood. Oak to be precise.

The formal dining room was the same size as the living room and had a table for 12 made of California redwood polished to a shine. The hardwood floor was covered by an elegant rug which Dobby stated had come from the time of Merlin and was supposedly used in the castle at Camelot.

The next stop was the kitchens, even though Dobby forbade them from ever setting foot inside of them again. It was obvious that the elves at Hogwarts had helped to set everything up. It was a miniature version of the kitchens at the school.

Dobby then took them to the other side of the formal dining and living areas, and into the more comfortable living arrangements. There was a small dining room the had a table for six and more comfortable chairs as well as a smaller livening room which reminded Harry a lot of Gryffindor common room except for the colors.

Dobby pointed out that they used all blue and black colors as they were Harry and Nym's preferred color scheme.

"How?"

"It is an elf's job to know what his master and mistress likes sir. It's what we do."

"I shouldn't have even asked."

The library was the last room on the main floor. It seemed like that Potter's had a thing for reading. The library was nearly three times the size of the one at Hogwarts and Dobby had to explain why there were so many books.

"The Potters' be owning many books. No matter where the current Head of the Potter House lives the library always goes with him. Yous library didn't used to being this big. Many books came from the Black family too.

"Winky and I be bringing your things here earlier today. Wes be putting everything in the master suite.

"Is you wanting to see all of the bedrooms upstairs tonight or wait?"

"I think we will check them out tomorrow Dobby. It's been a long day." Harry answered with a yawn."

"I don't know about you, love, but this doesn't exactly feel like home yet."

"I think your right but what's missing?"

"We haven't broken it in yet."

"We can't have that, now can we?"

"Not at all love."


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17:

Harry stirred early the next morning, against the wishes of his exhausted mind and body, to see a blurry midget sized figure with oversized ears jumping up and down next to the bed, poking him when he could reach.

It had been a long and night and he felt no more rested now than when he had first collapsed on the bed. Dumbledore had told them that erecting new wards wasn't exactly easy but it seems in addition to his many other talents, Dumbledore is quite skilled in the art of underestimation.

He wasn't even sure if he was going to be able to do his training this morning, but when he heard the shower running and Nym's sweet voice traveling out from the restroom, that she was ready to go and he wouldn't be getting any slack today whatsoever.

"Harry, sir," Dobby squealed once he realized Harry Potter sir was awake. "Mistress Nym be leaving Dobby strict orders to make sure you don't sleep in. She is wanting you in the kitchen by the time she is getting out of the shower."

Not even waiting for a response from Harry, Dobby jumped one last time and seized the top of the blankets and with a casual clicking of the fingers on his other hand, the bed clothes disappeared, presumably to the laundry to remove the remains of the "Breaking in the House" ceremony.

Groaning, and cursing when he realized even his pillow was no longer on the bed to at least provide some cover from the sun for his head, Harry opened one eye while trying to bury the rest of his face in the mattress, and glared at Dobby.

Dobby was oblivious to the stare though, or it didn't faze him in the least if he did notice it, for he went about the room and collected the clothes that were strewn about the floor with a chipper-ness that Harry felt should be outlawed on mornings when he had so little rest.

The water in the shower 'clicked' off, interesting how showers click off isn't it, the little noise it makes when the shower lever is released and clicks back to a bath flow, now and cursing Dumbledore and Dobby, Harry rolled off the bed and onto the floor.

He leaned with his back against the bed for a few seconds and stretched while allowing his eyes to adjust to the bright sunlight that was just now shining in through the recently opened drapes. Knowing that Nym only took about five minutes to get ready once she was out of the shower, he knew he had better get a move on, lest she find him on the floor of the bedroom when she exits the restroom. He could imagine the kind of hell she would force on him if he didn't 'obey' her commands about his training.

-

Nym casually strolled into the kitchen area of the house and gave her new husband a huge smile that, of course, _almost_ made him forget about being in a bad mood.

"Mornin, sunshine," she laughed, walking behind his chair at the table to give him a kiss and hug.

She released him, completely ignoring the scowl that once again marred his features, and took her seat on the opposite side of the small table they had set up for when it was just the two of them in the house.

"Change of plans for today. Maybe the whole summer actually, as far as your training schedule is concerned, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Too much caffeine too early in the morning makes me hyper.

"Don't you agree?" She asked him with barely restrained mirth. It was obvious she had had _something_ that made her hyper, he didn't know if it was caffeine or not but he didn't feel like saying that. She was in a good mood and could barely keep herself sitting in the chair. Whatever it was she had to give her that much energy, he would very much like to know what it is.

Adopting a false, but believably cheerful tone of voice, he asked her what she meant.

"Well, Dumbledore suggested that we try something different depending on how the work on the wards went. Apparently it went just as _he _expected, though he never elaborated as to what he meant by it," she said with a wave of her hand that seemed to say _its Dumbledore_.

"It doesn't make sense to me, but hey I'm just here to look good, right?" Bouncing her eyebrows up and down at him at the last.

"He said he didn't know for sure how the work on the wards was going to go but he had a good idea, but incase he was wrong he wanted us to have the schedule we already set up, ready to go so we didn't have to plan a schedule at the last minute.

"This morning, Fawkes dropped off a letter, with a copy of his schedule, that he thinks we should use."

"Hey now, don't give me that look, mister. I'm just doing as was suggested. Based on his letter and the schedule he gave to me it makes sense and it should make you feel proud, honored even to know what he's allowing me to teach you.

"He is authorizing me to teach you a more direct way of dealing with magic. This concept is usually discussed in the week right before graduation at Hogwarts. It isn't mentioned ahead of time since ninety percent, maybe more; of the student population wouldn't have the ability to manipulate magic to do their bidding."

Harry gaped, "What are you talking about, Nym?"

Closing his mouth with a sigh at her raised eyebrow, he elaborated on his question. "What are you talking about when you say 'manipulate magic to do their bidding'?"

She ignored him for a second and turned to see if Dobby was in the kitchen, he was of course, waiting off to the side with their breakfast. "Can you go ahead and bring the food on over, Shorty? We got a long talk ahead of us and I think it would do us both good to have some food on the stomach before getting at it."

Nym turned back to Harry and addressed his question as Dobby deposited plates of waffles onto the table as well as two carafes of orange juice. "Exactly what I said. I am talking about teaching, you, Harry Potter, how to use magic as if was an extension of your body. I had to learn how do this, and believe it or not, you married one of the more powerful witches in all of England.

"As a metamorph _I_ had no choice but to learn how to manipulate the magic _in _and _around _me." She made sure to emphasize the key words. "Magic, to most people, is a tool, something that they use. Maybe 'instrument' would be a better word for it. Something they use and the more they use it the better they get at it. They use incantations and wand movements the way musicians use the keys to get a certain note.

"Magic is much more, so much more, than an instrument. _I _for all practical purposes could be considered a magical creature. I told you this once before; magic is a part of me, the magic _inside_ controls my metamorph changes. The ambient magic, magic that is all around us, not a part of us, is what most witches and wizards use to perform their spells.

"Eat your breakfast and think about that and we will continue the conversation after some good nourishment. It seems that you're over your 'it's to early to be awake' mood now so let's get the day moving.

-

The rest of breakfast went by in a blur of thoughts and half glimpsed theories that were spawned by Nym's speech that morning. He was slightly hurt by the tone she took with him a few times but he knew from their previous talks that when class was 'in session' he was to be treated as a student and she as a teacher. They had agreed to keep their personal feelings out of the 'classroom' to make sure that Harry learned as much as he could in the limited amount of time they had. Though it was likely not to matter much anymore, since she saw Dumbledore's idea.

Harry set his fork down on his plate after he was finished eating and wiped his mouth before flushing the syrup remnants from his mouth with a swig of orange juice.

Nym was already finished and waiting patiently for him so they could begin.

"Think of magic folk in three categories, if you can," she began. "You have witches and wizards that can use ambient magic to make their spells work. This would be considered the general class; where most of the Hogwarts students, hell, most of the witches and wizards worldwide are in this category.

"Then the second level would be magical creatures. Here is where I tell you why I am not considered a magical creature, although using technicalities I could be one." Nym trailed off a bit towards the end, almost as if she were talking to herself. "Magical creatures have magic _inside _of them. They could be surrounded by wards that block off all magic and still be able to use their innate abilities. The magic is _inside _of them, it is a part of them. I can _always_ use my metamorph abilities. Though I fit into the third category and it seems that you do as well.

"The third category is a hybrid of both the general category and magical creature category. Those in this category have the ability to draw on the magic around them and also, generally, have access to a vast supply of magic that resides _inside _of you." She emphasized 'inside' by tapping her chest with her fist a few times.

"I guess in a sense, I lied to you earlier. I said that ninety percent of the Hogwarts students wouldn't be able to accomplish anything like that. In reality, and were not counting animagi for now, the actual percentage would be around 99.8 percent wouldn't be able to do anything.

"Now, Animagi are included in this category and that's why I had said 90 percent earlier. Their only ability in this area is to change into their other forms, they can't use the magic inside of them for any other purpose, which, in turn is where I fall into it as a metamorph. Harry, understand this, and understand it well…..Dumbledore notice some irregularities in the way you cast the wards last night. He has noticed the difference in the way you do magic than how your peers use it. Last night was just to see if he was correct in his assumptions.

"Harry, only four wizards have been born into this category since the time of Merlin. To take it even farther back, only four more before him."

Inhaling deeply she forced herself on. "Nine, Harry, Nine have been born into this world. You are the _last _to be born."

She paused for the first time in the story, well at least paused in a way in which he could speak should he choose to. He didn't, Harry sat in his chair with an unreadable expression on his face. It was obvious from the beginning where this was headed and he was far from ignorant; however, he knew now was not the time for questions. It would take time to absorb this information and come up with intelligent questions. Questions that would actually serve a purpose by being answered and not just to satisfy curiosity.

"There's more you're not telling me, isn't there?" The unreadable expression still fixed on his face.

"There is more, yes, but I can't tell you. That will have to wait for Dumbledore. He says he will be by tonight. My only instructions for the day were to explain this story to you and give you time alone to absorb the information before he gets here to finish the puzzle. I was strictly told, in bold letters at that," Nym added trying to fuse some humor into the morning that was by far the most awkward one they had spent together in the last month. "That I was to decorate or do something to keep myself occupied while you thought about things. So I shall take my leave good sir, and I shall see you tonight when Dumbledore gets here. Dobby will get you whatever you need and all that and already has my lunch order so I will be taken care of as well." She walked around the table and gave him another hug and kiss, which he returned half-heartedly, his mind being elsewhere submerged in more half glimpsed theories.

-

The flickering yellow light of the candles surrounding his office provided the only light for the aging headmaster. All of the windows had been sealed in his office and drapes drawn over them. The information that sat before him on his desk was such that even his most trusted friends and colleagues, Severus and Minerva included, knew nothing about it.

The part of the story that he told Miss Tonks was more or less common knowledge, aside from the fact that he knew the identity of the ninth born into this circle. The rest of the story however, the part contained inside an aging tome secured in a secret room behind his bedchambers in the ancient castle, was only known to three people. Of the three people, only one remained alive and he was about to pass it on to _the last_.

Albus Dumbledore sat behind his desk with this tome for the final time. After this evening everything would change. The book would fulfill its destiny as would he himself. After tonight everything would sit on Harry Potter's shoulders and his alone. For the past sixteen years the weight had been trying to crush young Harry and he had made it his goal in life to stand tall and bare the brunt of the weight until Harry was strong enough, in mind, as well as body.

Tonight, August the second in the year of nineteen hundred and ninety-six, the world would stand still, as he, a man of over fifteen decades, stood aside and joined his place with the two previous owners of the book. He knew this. He didn't know if he would actually move on to the next great adventure or if it meant that he would be with them hypothetically, but in the end, it didn't really matter. His affairs were in order, had been for some time, and he could think of no one better to lead the war against evil than the young man that fate and destiny seemed to spit on.

With a sigh, he set the book to the side and began composing some letters addressed to key individuals should he, in fact, join his two brothers in fate in the next great adventure.

**A/N: as I said, and I'm sure it shows now, my writing style has changed. I hope that you all like it. I know that this chapter is short but it serves its purpose in the long run. It feels good to write again. I have created a group called lord Perth on yahoo to discuss my writings if you should choose to. http// groups dot yahoo dot com / group / lordperth/**


	19. Interlude

**A/N: So sorry about the long wait on this one and especially for a short interlude and not a whole chapter. RL has been hectic and my mind is being overrun by plot bunnies for a seventh book. Makes it hard to write on other stories but I'm doing my best to ignore them for now. The next chapter will be a full sized one and im going for 5000 words**

**Interlude**

It didn't take long after Nym had left him to concentrate on his morning's lesson that he realized what a complete prat he was being. He was rude, whiny, and inconsiderate to her, his wife and only realizing it after the fact made him feel even worse. She hadn't even mentioned it, just took it in stride or she let it seem so. He had a feeling that she was hurt by the way he treated her but their agreement to keep their relationship out of the training stalled any comment she might've made. In hindsight everything's 20-20 and he knew that any agreement to keep their feelings for each other out of training was little more than an ill formed illusion.

Now he had to find her and make it up to her. As far as he was concerned Dumbledore's impending arrival and further conversation on his training and apparently strange abilities could wait. They may not have been married long, or even dated for much longer than that, but he had learned a lot about his wife in the last month or so and he'd be damned if he'd let his actions hurt her any longer than they already had. He loved her after all and in the end, that's all that matters. Now he just had to find her.

"Dobby," Harry called.

Dobby arrived in the kitchen again with a slight crack courtesy of the displaced air. "Yes, sir, Harry, sir?"

"Do you know where Nym took off to after she left the kitchen earlier?"

Dobby looked around uncertainly, what he was uncertain of Harry didn't know. "Mistress Tonksy be in your room, Harry, sir."

"Thanks Dobby." Harry got up and headed for the stairs to go back to his room and apologize to Nym.

Harry walked up the stair case and paused briefly outside the door to their room. He was somewhat surprised to see it closed but shrugged it off and opened the door slightly before walking in. As soon as his entrance was noticed, Nym snapped close the book she was writing in and looked at Harry somewhat surprised.

"I just wanted to apologize," Harry said. Despite being married to the woman, he stood before her nervously with his hands shoved down into his jeans pockets. Taking her silence to mean that she wasn't letting him off that easily, he continued.

"I mean that I'm sorry for acting like a git at breakfast. I was being rude and had no reason to treat you that way."

After another minute of silence Harry looked her straight in the face and what he saw didn't give him hope that he would be forgiven. In fact, it didn't really tell him anything at all. Her expression was so closed that he had no idea what she was thinking or feeling.

He shifted his weight on his feet nervously. "Can you please say something?"

"Good."

"Excuse me?"

"Good. As in good job. You're getting better at understanding when you're a git and what you need to do about it.

"The only thing you could have done differently, in my opinion, which I guess in this case, that's all that matters," she smirked. "Is you could have come in here apologized and than throw me on the bed and ravish me, but hey, I guess a girl can't expect too much yet. I hear that it takes years to train a husband correctly."

The last was said with such an innocent expression on her face that Harry couldn't help the guffaw of laughter that came out. The expression of mock hurt that replaced the innocent expression did little to contain his laughter either.

It took Harry a moment to gain control of himself again but when he did he called for Dobby and ignored Nym for the moment. He got down on one knee and whispered a few instructions in his ear before Dobby nodded and disappeared from the room.

Without preamble Harry strode purposefully across the room and picked up his wife, throwing her over his shoulder and walking out the room not even listening to her squawks of protest.

He had to hand it to her; the potion that Andy had picked up for him to help get him back to where he should be physically was a godsend. It hadn't been very long yet but he could already feel the dramatic increase in his energy level and though his wife wasn't overweight by any means, the scrawny boy that stepped onto platform 9 ¾ two months ago was a far cry from the young man carrying his wife down the steps and out the back door.

Nym kept trying to get his attention, not that she didn't have it, by swatting at his butt and legs and playfully asking to be let down so she could walk again.

"How's the ride, Nym?" Harry asked with a cheeky grin peering under his arm to see her mock scowl aimed right back at him.

"Very funny," she said before adopting a look on her face that made Harry extremely nervous. Without warning, Nym morphed her small feminine hands into large, meaty, Hagrid sized hands before pinching Harry's ass as hard as she could.

Harry was so startled he didn't even have a chance to realize what was going on. His instincts took over and he tumbled over backwards bringing both him and Nym crashing down in a tangle of limbs on the back yard meadow.

"Hey what was the big idea with that," He asked indignantly, rubbing his sore bum.

Nym said nothing but grinned unrepentantly back at him before collapsing back onto the grass in an all out laugh. It didn't take long for Harry to join in and laugh a long with her. He had no room to say anything after his stunt that led them outside in the first place.

A soft crack announced the arrival of Dobby, who just stared at the two of them in all out confusion. He obviously still didn't know what it was like to work for a master that had fun with his life, when he could, and didn't do everything the ways that were proper.

Shaking his head and vowing to never try to understand humans he clicked his fingers and moved the picnic lunch he had prepared for his master and mistress from the spot by the lake and set it up next to where they were unable to get control of themselves. He figured they would eat when they were ready and he popped back to the house to get ready for the great wizard Albus Dumbledore's arrival.

A/N: Hoping the next one is out REALLY SOON.


	20. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: Dumbledore's Secrets**

Harry and Nym had just returned to the house after their picnic, if it could be called that. The food itself had barely been touched and it was more of a way to rebuild some energy they had spent before Dumbledore's arrival. Dobby didn't seem to mind at all, he happily cleaned up the yard where they had spent the afternoon and disposed of the unused food while his 'masters' went to get cleaned up and changed.

Dumbledore didn't arrive until almost 7:00 that evening and he carried a large and obviously old tome under his arm. Dobby led him into the small sitting room next to the kitchen where Harry and Nym were waiting patiently, watching the fire.

"Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Potter," the aged wizard said. "I do apologize for my tardiness; I had some business come up that was simply unavoidable."

Harry and Nym nodded their assent and waited for him to continue.

"I believe Tonks has already gone over the basics of what I wanted to discuss," the Headmaster left the question hanging.

"Yes, sir, she did. She told me of the three categories of magical users and said that the rest was up to you to tell me."

"Indeed, Harry, indeed. I believe that the best place to start, as with any story, is the beginning."

Dumbledore didn't hesitate to delve into the story of Halloween night of almost 1000 years ago and it didn't take but an hour to get hit up to the point that Cordai left the Hogwarts grounds.

"Who was he sir?"

Dumbledore smiled genially, "I have no idea. As far as I know no one had ever seen him before and no one has seen him since. It's rather odd and somewhat suspicious but he seemed to have a great deal of knowledge for a mere messenger. Mayhap one day we might find out more about him. Then again, maybe we won't."

Harry frowned and looked his headmaster in the face, "If I understand this story correctly then, the four founders were the first four of the nine of these 'hybrids' that would ever be born?"

"Well, yes and no. They were indeed the first of this generation you could say. I highly doubt that in the history of the world that there have never been any more alive or that in the countless years to come that no more will ever exist. I have my suspicions but that's all they are, suspicions.

"To continue on the story we move to the time of 1012. Gryffindor acts as an emissary for the remaining founders of Hogwarts, Slytherin having already been slain by Gryffindor to end his reign of terror. He contacts the fifth of the nine. I'm sure you remember this lady being discussed in History of Magic, Wendelin the Weird."

Harry nodded that he indeed remembered her though he wouldn't admit that it was from a chocolate frog card instead of the boring old ghost of a teacher.

Nym just glanced sideways at Harry knowing that he was lying to the headmaster. He had told her in no uncertain terms that he had usually slept or plotted something or other in Binns'' class. She strongly suspected that he had heard of Wendelin from Hermione since Dumbledore didn't question the sincereness he displayed.

"Wendelin was, pardon the crude comparison, much like the Weasley twins. She was a very brilliant witch in her own right but she had no desire to use the talents given to her for anything more than her own amusement. You can imagine the kind of fun she could have amusing herself amongst the muggles using the rare talents that Cordai had mentioned to the founders.

"Gryffindor was able to convince her to return to Hogwarts and study her magic a little more thoroughly under the three founder's tutelage. Sadly she never made it back to Hogwarts. She wanted to do one last prank against the muggles by impersonating a vampire.

"Even the unique magic she could wield was no use against a stake through the heart while she slept."

Nym sat quietly through the whole conversation thus far and it appeared she had no interest in saying anything at all during the remainder of the conversation either. She simply say quietly and listened to Dumbledore tell the story that by all rights she had no right to hear.

"So, Harry, we have now uncovered the fifth of the nine. I'm sure you can hazard a guess at two of the others but I'm curious as to whether or not you would know the last two of them?"

Harry stared at the headmaster as he sat in contemplation. "I'm guessing that since Hermione's never mentioned any of this at all during our times at school that none of this is commonly taught or even written down in any book, save perhaps the book that you have with you, if my guess is correct.

"That would mean that its handed down from one to the next, in which case since you have the book you would be one of them, and…..and I…would be the last one," Harry finished in a whisper as he reached for Nym's hand and held it tightly in his.

Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling brighter than ever that night, "Most admirable guesses my boy. You are indeed correct on the two of us. But who are the other two I wonder?"

Harry looked puzzled. "I have no idea, Professor."

"You have the knowledge at hand to be able to guess one of the remaining two but I should doubt that you will have guessed the last of them.

"I shall give you a hint. Think June….." Dumbledore finished, the twinkle a little less obvious now.

Nym could feel his hand tighten noticeably at the mention of June. She racked her brain to think of what could possibly be meant by that statement. It was extremely difficult for her to pinpoint anything since so much had happened in the last few months not to mention learning Harry's entire life story.

Raising a slightly trembling right hand to his scar, "... And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal." 

It hit Harry like a ton of bricks and judging by the involuntary squeeze Nym gave his hand she knew it too meant that Lord Voldemort was one of the nine, which didn't make Harry feel any better about the situation at all.

"Then it means that this _isn't_ 'the power he knows not?'"

"I'm afraid not my boy. Though I already told you what power you have that Lord Voldemort will never have nor understand."

"I know, love," Harry said sarcastically. He was half way through rolling his eyes when he smacked rather hard on the back of the head by an indignant Nym. "Sorry," he mumbled apologetically.

"So now we have 8 of the nine as I'm sure you noticed.

"In order we have:

Godric Gryffindor

Rowena Ravenclaw

Helga Hufflepuff

Salazar Slytherin

Wendelin the Weird

Albus Dumbledore

Tom Marvolo Riddle

Harry James Potter.

"Now the only one we have left to discover is the person that was the bridge in the time gap as it seems. Rather than prolonging the guessing game I shall just give the name of the ninth and final magical person to make up this group. A good friend of mine who only recently passed on. Nicolas Flamel was the keeper of this very book," Dumbledore explained calmly while patting the book with his right hand.

"As I'm sure you have no doubt guessed by now, this is the very same book that the mysterious messenger left in the care of the founders of Hogwarts.

"This book has been passed down from each of the previous holders to the newest in the chain. The exceptions to this are Wendelin the Weird, who died before being able to read it, and Tom Riddle. I was always cautious when it came to Tom. I knew he was behind the opening of the Chamber of Secrets but I couldn't prove anything. Since that time, even before then, I had kept a close eye on him to see which way he would go."

"What do you know of powerful magical numbers Harry," asked Dumbledore.

"According to Hermione, 7 is the most powerful magic number in existence."

"Quite right, quite right. Then do you find it odd or perhaps significant that there were nine 'chosen ones' and of the nine of us, only 7 have read the book, and only 7 of them did not turn dark?"

Dumbledore watched Harry for a second and decided that since it was already nearing the two hour mark of their conversation to just finish up what he had to say and allow the boy some time to sort out his thought on the matter.

"That is neither here nor there at the moment, just an old man's ramblings. This book, I shall leave in your care to read from and learn from. I suspect that you will have a great many questions for me as I did for Nicolas. I shall take my leave and allow you both some time to digest what I have divulged this evening."

Dumbledore stood and nodded goodbye to Harry and Nym before stepping closer to the fireplace. "Oh and Harry, I should like it if you brought by some pepper imps when you drop by. Good evening." With a swirl of green flames the aged headmaster departed the newly chosen House of Potter.

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It was sometime rather late the following morning that Harry awoke. Nym was still sound asleep beside him and he was really tempted to just lay back down and go back to sleep but now that his mind was even beginning to process that thought others came unbidden to his mind as well. Too many thoughts to comfortably forget about in the attempt at yet more sleep yet to beautiful wife.

He stifled a yawn, covering his mouth as he slid out of the huge king size bed and padded barefoot on the Persian rug that decorated the floor of the master suite towards the bathroom to shower and get ready for the day ahead.

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Nym rolled over in bed and made to throw her arm around Harry only to be slightly disappointed to hit nothing but sheets and pillows. She could hear the water running in the bathroom and knew that he probably hadn't been awake very long if he was still in the shower.

Without skipping a beat Nym jumped out bed and made a quick morphing change to herself before sneaking into the bathroom to join in on the shower. Just because her husband wasn't adventurous enough to sneak into her showers if she started alone didn't mean that she was the same way with him.

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Dobby was getting a late breakfast ready for his master and mistress when he heard a strange voice say, "'ello 'Arry." Followed by a rather unmanly yell and a thud.

It couldn't be any more obvious to the delighted house elf that his new family was nowhere near the same as his last one.

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It was a somewhat disgruntled Harry Potter that sat down to breakfast that morning next to an all too happy and smug looking Nym Potter.

Nym could be heard thanking Dobby for all his wonderful work with the food while Harry could be barely be heard muttering about 'evil witches' and 'stupid tests'.

"Oh, that's enough out of you. It wasn't a test and you know it. While I love the fact that you're attracted to me as a person and not a metamorph, I've been a metamorph my whole life and its not going to change now.

"Besides," Nym finished with a smirk. "Can you honestly tell me you've never imagined what it would be like to see her naked?"

It was a testament to their somewhat short and unorthodox relationship that showed how much Harry had matured and managed to control his emotions. Only the faintest hint of a blush was visible.

"I was a teenager when I met her, and you for that matter, I can't deny not thinking about either of you. The difference is, I wake up next to you every morning," Harry shot back with a smirk of his own when he saw Nym fumble with her fork at the mention of him thinking of her naked before they were married.

Deciding a change of subject was in order before things got entirely too out of hand she asked what Harry planned on doing for the day.

"This whole thing is out of my league now. I was gonna help teach you things to become an auror and all that but I don't know how much of a help I can be anymore. I can only do a bit of magic like that for my morphing I can't use it to cast spells or hexes or anything major like that.

"I think the only one alive that can even offer you suggestions anymore is Albus."

Harry sighed, "That may or may not be true, I don't know yet. You read as much of that book as I did. You know that its not _that _much different from normal magic in the sense that you still have to have an idea of what you want you're magic to do before you can make it happen. I think learning the curses and spells that you were going to teach me would be a good thing, if for no other reason that a handy backup if I fail spectacularly at this. _Ouchhh!_ What the hell was that for?"

"We had a few talks about self esteem during July didn't we?"

"Yeah so, that didn't mean you had to sting me. Hey, how'd you do that anyways? You didn't use a wand and you said you couldn't do regular magic the way Dumbledore and I can."

"Yes O-Great and Powerful husband of mine," Nym said sarcastically with a laugh. "What I just did, didn't have anything at all to do with magic. It's also something that you should have recognized for what it was almost immediately."

"What are you on about? Ahh! Stop that. Ahh. Damnit Nym stop it, what the hell are you doing?"

Nym just grinned at him and casually glanced down at their feet.

Harry could have slapped himself for being so stupid. Underneath the table was another one of the fancy dress rugs similar to the one in the bedroom. Harry could just see his wife's bare feet rubbing furiously against the rug as she reached out to get him again.

'Two can play at that game.' Harry thought.

It was a rather long time before either of them got back to doing anything 'important' like reading a book that would help him defeat a Dark Lord.

**A/N: Another long delay in between chapters. I really am sorry for that. My life has been so turned around lately I haven't gotten anything accomplished. Hope you all enjoy the chapter.**


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